Women's
employment strategy launched
More women than ever before are working part-time (42 per cent of
working women or 5.8 million women) but too many have to downgrade
when they leave full-time employment.
We need more highly skilled quality part-time jobs for women, for
men involved in caring and for businesses and the economy to
flourish, according to the new cross-government women's
employment strategy launched today.
Vera Baird, Solicitor General and lead Minister for the Equality
Bill, called for flexible working to become the norm, and an end
to the outdated assumption that the 40/40/40 model - where we work
forty plus hours per week, for forty plus weeks, over forty plus
years - is the top career choice.
Ms Baird said:
"This is important for women, who still have the
majority of caring responsibilities at home, but need and want to
work. It is also good for men, who share in caring, and for
businesses that will benefit more fully from a wider pool of
talent. By not opening up more senior roles to part-time work,
business is missing a trick. We can't miss tricks when
our economy needs vigorously to re-grow after the recession.
"Today's strategy contains a range of
non-statutory measures that will support more businesses in
offering flexible working. We need to break away from the 40/40/40
principle - where we work forty plus hours per week, for forty
plus weeks, over forty plus years."
More than half of all women in part-time employment are working
below their potential, and a shortage of suitable opportunities
means that women are crowded into a narrow range of lower paid
part-time jobs1. New research published alongside the strategy
found this was a major reason behind differences in
women's and men's pay.
The overall pay gap between men and women is 22 per cent2. But
the gap is much wider for women working part-time - median hourly
earnings of part-time workers are 36.5 per cent less than
full-time workers - which has a negative impact on the household
income for many families.
Ms Baird said:
"It is time to move our labour market assumptions on
into the modern era. Working and caring are not separate spheres
now. We need a labour market framework which encourages them to be
flexibly mixed so that individuals have maximum choice and
businesses have satisfied employees."
Angela Eagle, Work and Pensions Minister, said:
"It is important for women to be able to balance work
and family life. We want them to be able to care for their
children and progress their careers, which is why we have
established a Family Friendly Working Hours Taskforce with
employers, to look at how we can encourage more organisations to
create high quality, flexible part-time jobs."
The Government today published Working Towards Equality: a
Framework for Action, which demonstrates how it will work to
tackle the gender pay gap, and ensure our labour market is one:
* Where being a parent or carer is not a barrier to
opportunity or success;
* Where a person's
aspirations and opportunities are not constrained by their gender;
and
* That is transparent and free from gender discrimination.
The Government today also agreed to implement the majority of the
43 recommendations made by the Women and Work Commission in their
report 'Shaping a Fairer Future - a review of the
recommendations of the Women and Work Commission three years
on'.
Baroness Prosser, Chair of the Women and Work Commission, said:
"I am pleased to see our suggestions of new areas where
action should be taken to narrow the gender pay gap are being
pursued.
"As the economic recovery gathers strength, it is vital
that the Government continues to work closely with businesses to
capitalise on the skills and experience of women. The economic
benefits of more women participating in the labour market should
not be overlooked at this crucial time."
Some of the new commitments made in the new strategy and action
plan include:
* Challenging gender stereotyping in education;
*
Investigating the barriers to sustainability in the childcare
sector; and
* Stimulating the supply of quality part-time work.
Last year Ms Baird joined ministers, unions, businesswomen and
others at a roundtable to identify what more could be done to
tackle the gender pay gap including widening access to childcare
and training, breaking down gender stereotyping in the education
system, promoting quality part-time work and flexible working.
The new strategy and action plan complements measures in the
Equality Bill and will help deliver a labour market which offers
women genuine choices, equal opportunities and career structures
which enable them to progress and to fulfil their potential.
KEY FACTS
* In the three months to November 2009, 5.8m women
were working part-time
* 42 per cent of women work part-time
compared with 12 per cent of men
* Comparing part-time women
with full-time men, the gender pay gap is 39.4 per cent
*
Part-time employment is expected to continue to increase in
prevalence for both men and women
* Women work part-time
mainly because of caring responsibilities
* A high proportion
of those working part-time work below their potential
* A
shortage of "quality" part-time work across
sectors & occupations means many women crowded into narrow
range of low paid part time jobs.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
* Working
Towards Equality: A Framework for Action is a joint publication
from the Government Equalities Office, the Department of Work and
Pensions, the Department of Children, Schools and Families, and
the Department for Business. The document, and related research,
is available at www.equalities.gov.uk
* The Women and Work Commission was reconvened in October
2008 to assess how well its original recommendations from 2006 had
been adopted by the Government. Its most recent report, and
recommendations, were published in July 2009 and can be found at
www.equalities.gov.uk.
* The Gender Pay Gap is a measure of the difference between
the hourly earnings of men and women. It is determined by
calculating women's median gross hourly pay (excluding
overtime) as a percentage of men's, and taking the
difference between this and 100 per cent. So, for example, the
gender pay gap is 15 per cent if women's pay is 85 per
cent of men's pay. The Office for National
Statistics' (ONS) principal source for earnings
statistics is the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE). The
ONS headline on a set of measures to look at the differences in
men's and women's pay:
* All female
employees' average pay compared with all male
employees' average pay, i.e. the overall gender pay gap,
22.0% as of April 2009
* Female full-time employees average
pay compared with male full-time employees' average pay,
i.e. the full-time gender pay gap, 12.2% as of April 2009
and
* Female part-time employees' average pay
compared with male part-time employees' average pay, i.e.
the part-time gender pay gap, -2.0% as of April 2009.
* The
Government Equalities Office is responsible for the
Government's overall strategy, legislation and priorities
on equality issues. The Office also has direct responsibility for
policy on gender equality, sexual orientation, and for integrating
work on race. The Prime Minister announced the establishment of
the Government Equalities Office (GEO) in July 2007 and it became
a Department in its own right in October 2007. It works to
Ministers Harriet Harman, Maria Eagle, Vera Baird and Michael Foster.
1 Flexible Working and Quality Part-Time Work, National Institute
of Economic and Social Research 2009. Commissioned by Government
Equalities Office.
2 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, ONS.
Contacts:
Government Equalities Office press office
Phone: 0207 276 0932
enquiries@coi.gsi.gov.uk