By Becky Johnson, Sky News Correspondent
Unemployment among women is set to rise to 1.5 million by 2018, according to a report that says 400,000 women in the UK can expect to lose their jobs over the next five years.
The study by the Fawcett Society shows that while unemployment among men has fallen since 2010, the number of women who are unemployed has increased.
It says Government moves to increase employment opportunity in the UK are "leaving out women" as six out of 10 "new" jobs are going to men.
The report blames a variety of factors, including cuts to public sector jobs.
It has found that a third of women in the UK are employed in the public sector, making up 65% of the workforce, so women are likely to make up the majority of those who lose their jobs.
Family commitments are also a factor. The report found three times as many women are in part-time work than men, largely due to women's greater caring responsibilities for children and elderly relatives.
On average, mothers are responsible for three quarters of the family's childcare during the week.
It also says women in the workforce are receiving lower pay because historically there is a bigger pay gap in the private sector than in the public sector, due to fewer women holding senior roles and fewer opportunities for family-friendly working practices.
Lucinda Antal, 44, was made redundant last week after working as a manager at an environmental charity in Liverpool for the past 13 years.
Three years ago she had to go part time to care for her elderly father but has now been told her job no longer exists.
She told Sky News: "You do feel worthless. I mean it's a horrible word, redundant, it makes you feel that everything you've worked for has been pointless, you haven't contributed, you're not as good as you thought you were."
She has already applied for eight jobs but, as yet, has not been invited to any interviews.
She said: "I actually saw an HR consultant as part of my redundancy process, who was basically intimating that at my age I might not find another job.
"I might not get employed, I might be better off looking for self-employment or working freelance, because I might not be employed again and that's not great, not at 44."
She is attending a course entitled 'How to Get a Job you Want' at The Women's Organisation in Liverpool.
The course teaches CV-writing skills and aims to give women the confidence to get back into the job market.
The organisation's chief executive, Maggie O'Carroll, says the number of women getting in contact has increased dramatically.
She told Sky News: "We are experiencing literally a 400% jump in the numbers of women coming through.
"So while we were dealing with thousands we're now dealing with multiples of thousands and so fundamentally that causes a strain in terms of our ability to deliver services but moreover it's showing a real difficulty and gender imbalance in terms of the work force going forward."
The Fawcett Society report concludes that the Government should implement a 'Women's Employment Strategy' to improve levels of low pay and ensure greater access to the jobs market for women.
Minister for women and equalities Maria Miller said: "Women are absolutely vital to our economic growth and we need to do all we can to ensure we are making the best of all they have to offer. It is not about political correctness, it is good business sense.
"The Government is incredibly focused on this issue and we now have more women in work than ever before and the cultural shift is happening. The gender pay gap is closing and the number of women employed is a third of a million higher than when the coalition came to office.
"Plus, there are also 1.27 million women self-employed, an increase of 51,000 compared to one year ago and these new entrepreneurs are able to access support from 15,000 business mentors including 5,000 specifically targeted to women.
"And both Lord Davies' and Cranfield's reports indicate that we are in the right direction when it comes to women's representation in senior levels, but there is much more to be done.
"The workplace was designed by men, for men and as we have seen - times have changed and if we want women to achieve their full potential we need to make sure the workplace is modernised to enable that."
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