The exhibition is an output of the research project Women in multiple low-paid employment: pathways between work, care and health, led by Louise Lawson, along with co-investigators Tanya Wilson, Mhairi Mackenzie and Ade Kearns. The artworks were created by Ailie Rutheford, see below.

The project is the first to study the nature and extent of women’s multiple low paid employment (MLPE) in the UK. It examines the relationships between MLPE, caring responsibilities and health and well-being. Using mixed methods, it includes the analysis of three large-scale UK representative survey datasets, and in-depth interviews with women who are in multiple low-paid employment, by their own definition.

Photo credit: Mapping Women's Work workshop at Glasgow Women's Library with artist Ailie Rutherford. Photographed by Stephanie Gibson

The study aims to give voice to women experiencing MLPE and to provide opportunities to raise the profile of MLPE as a significant and growing phenomenon. 

To accomplish this, the research project formed a collaboration with Glasgow Women’s Library who commissioned a socially engaged artist to work alongside women participants in co-creating the exhibition, entitled Pouring Out, Pouring In: Mapping Women’s Work.

Ten of the women participants from the project, alongside some women recruited through other networks, worked alongside artist Ailie Rutherford in a series of workshops at Glasgow Women's Library. Ailie’s practice is grounded in feminist economics, creating participatory artworks that connect women’s lived experiences with feminist theory. The workshops invited women to map out their multiple roles and responsibilities, take part in conversations about precarious, undervalued and invisible labour and to think together about how we might move towards a more equitable economic system. 

The exhibition displays prints and other outcomes from the and shares 'maps' of their collective thinking.

The project, funded by the Nuffield Foundation (2020-2024), aims to raise the profile of women’s paid and unpaid work and make recommendations for employers and services supporting women in employment, particularly low-paid employment, but also in relation to their care responsibilities and health. The outcomes of this work aim to influence public policy and related services, locally and nationally to better support women working multiple jobs, address the causes and consequences of this, and benefit the health and wellbeing of women and their families.

The exhibition will be on display from 27 October 2023 to 20 January 2024.

Find out more on the Glasgow Women’s Library website.

First published: 5 June 2024

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