Across the Midlands, the living wage is out of reach for most women working part-time says Midlands TUC

The majority of women working part-time in Malvern earn less than the living wage – the highest proportion in the Midlands and the third highest in Britain – according to research published today (Thursday) by the TUC.

Today (28 August, which is two-thirds of the way through 2014) is effectively the last day this year that women working part-time get paid. This is because they earn just 66p for every pound earned by men working full-time (which is a pay gap of 34.2 per cent). One of the main reasons for this huge gender pay divide is the large concentration of women doing low-paid, part-time work, says the TUC.

Across the UK, around two in five part-time jobs pay less than the living wage. But TUC analysis of official figures from the House of Commons Library shows that in Malvern two thirds (65.7 per cent) working part-time are paid below the living wage.

Mansfield (63.8 per cent) and North Warwickshire (60.9 per cent) are the next worst affected areas in the Midlands. In both these local areas the majority of women working part-time earn less than the living wage, which is currently £7.65 an hour.

Warwick has the lowest proportion of women working part-time for less than the living wage at 24 per cent, followed by Stoke at 27 per cent.

With women accounting for almost three-quarters of Britain’s six-million strong part-time workforce, the lack of skilled, decently-paid, part-time jobs affects women’s pay and their career prospects far more than it does men, says the TUC.

The TUC would like to see more employers paying the living wage. This would help tackle the growing scourge of in-work poverty and make big inroads into closing what it sees as the scandalous 34 per cent part-time gender pay gap.

The TUC believes that local authorities should lead by example by becoming living wage employers themselves. Several local authorities in the Midlands, such as Birmingham, Derby and Leicester, are already living wage employers but many more need to become accredited, says the TUC.

At both central and local government level, employers can boost take-up of the living wage by encouraging private companies that win public contracts to pay a living wage to their staff.

The TUC also wants to see more jobs advertised on a part-time basis, ending the requirement that women have to be in post for six months before they have the right to request flexible working. Many women feel unable to ask about the possibility of a shorter working week during a job interview for fear it could adversely affect their chances of success, says the TUC.

Midlands TUC Regional Secretary Lee Barron said: “In-work poverty is growing across the Midlands and it’s often women that bear the brunt of low pay.

“The living wage was created so that work can provide staff with a basic standard of living. But in too many places like Malvern and Mansfield, most women working part-time are way off earning this.

“Women would gain most from a greater take-up of the living wage by employers. Councils can lead the way by becoming living wage employers themselves. But they also need to work with local employers and unions to use the living wage to tackle in-work poverty throughout the area.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

Top ten living wage blackspots for women working part-time across the Midlands

Top five living wage brightspots for women working part-time across the Midlands

- The TUC analysis does not include men working part-time as figures are not available for most local authority areas. This is because there are too few men working part-time to have statistically significant figures by local area. Figures for women working part-time are available for 341 of the UK’s 406 local authority areas.

- A breakdown of the number of people paid below the living wage by local authority area and parliamentary constituency is available at www.tuc.org.uk/sites/default/files/House%20of%20Commons%20LW%20data.xlsx

- The TUC analysis of the availability of part-time work in the best and worst paid occupations is available at http://www.tuc.org.uk/economic-issues/labour-market/equality-issues/gender-equality/highest-paid-occupations-are-%E2%80%98no-go%E2%80%99

- Equal Pay Day for part-time workers is based on the fact women working part-time earn 34.2 per cent less per hour than men (based on mean hourly earnings excluding overtime). This means women effectively stop being paid on the 204^th day of the year – 28 August. The full-time gender pay gap is 15.7 per cent. This means that Equal Pay Day for full-time women is Tuesday 4 November this year. Further analysis from the TUC and the Fawcett Society will be published around this anniversary.

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