Women and work
Women account for more than half the population and make up more than half the workforce. They are significant consumers of goods and services, and as active citizens play a pivotal role in community and family life. Given this standing it is reasonable to suppose women are fully represented and occupy a powerful place in the workplace and society. To a certain extent this is true, and on International Women's Day, gives us just cause to celebrate the immense social and economic contribution women make to the region and country as a whole. However a good deal of potential remains unlocked. Such a symbolic anniversary provides a valuable opportunity to reflect on steps taken to advance women's position, but also set out to tackle those challenges that stand in the way of further progress.
In the 30 years since the Equal Pay Act, more women are in work and employed in senior positions than ever before. Girls are outperforming boys at school and university. Their aspirations are high. Nevertheless the pay and opportunity gap continues to affect the lives of women whether at work, home or in the community. A culture change is needed to challenge assumptions about women's role at work and in society. Progress has been achieved, albeit slowly. It is time to accelerate the pace of change otherwise our children's children will be consigned to grapple with many of the same issues that remain largely unchanged. Trade unions are vital to meeting this challenge as influential shapers of opinion in the public domain and architects of change in the workplace.
The Gender Pay Gap
Female employees in full time work earn 17% less per hour on average than male employees; whereas females in part time work earn 38% less than the hourly rate for men in full time work.[1] In the North East the pay gap is even more pronounced with women earning just 61.3% of male earnings. [2] While the overall employment rate is close to that of men, women are over-represented in part time and lower paid occupations. Furthermore segregation by both sector and occupation limits women's opportunity to succeed in the labour market. This pattern is also reflected in the distribution of earnings between men and women. Last year men in the region earned £440 a week compared to £350.30 for women.[3]
There are a number of reasons to explain the gender pay gap. The Women and Work Commission identified that access to learning and skills development, the way an organisation or firm operates, staff recruitment strategies, reward systems and career structures all have an impact on the gender pay gap.
Education and Training
It is now well recognised that some women face particular barriers to improve their skills and gain secure employment. Evidence shows a major change in employer behaviour is required to overcome the training divide and poses a huge challenge for the success of the Leitch skills pledge, which sends a clear message to employers of the imperative to train every worker.
Women on average have fewer educational qualifications than men. Although many women have closed and surpassed this gap, the average woman is still less qualified than the average man. This is due to historical differences in education and work experience between men and women, which have contributed to the gender pay gap. The deficit in educational qualifications is concentrated among women over 40 and those employed part time or not at all. Part time employment is the location where many of these factors are clustered. Women who work part time are often the least educated, work in the most segregated occupations and frequently have the shortest employment histories predominantly carrying out low skilled, low paid tasks.
Access to employer provided and work related training is also significantly gender differentiated. Although women are likely to receive slightly more on the job training than men, it is less likely to be of the type that leads to a formal qualification, which in turn helps to facilitate career progression. Also women who work part time are less likely to be improving their skills in the workplace. Particularly in the UK, the duration of job related training is short lived, especially for women. Many women working part time struggle to keep their skills up to date and require discount on professional development training.
Nevertheless there are reasons to be cheerful. There has been an increase in training since 2005 from 26% to 30% of employees participating in work related development. This increase has largely been attributed to a rise in participation in training among women employees, where the difference is marked up from 26% to 33% compared to 27% for males.[4]
A TUC report investigating causes of the training divide found that 'both the overall gender skills gap between women working part time and those working full time have narrowed substantially over the last two decades and this is one of the contributory factors behind the increase in job related training among women employees, in particular a greater increase in training among low skilled women employees'. Union learning and Government policy is seen to have exerted a discerning influence on this trend.
Most women are willing to undertake additional training. In a survey carried out for the Women and Equality Unit researchers discovered that 66% of women working part time would be prepared to engage in training or education. However cost proved a major barrier with 70% of respondents stating provision would need to be subsidised, or granted paid time off to train. Although 46% said it would be difficult to persuade their employer to pay for training.[5]
For those women seeking to return to work, the adult and community learning sector provides a route back to more formal skills development in a relaxed environment. Between 1.6 and 2.5 million people are enrolled in LEA provision, the majority of who are women.
Successful interventions by Union Learning Reps and pro-active policies developed by Government suggest it is not lack of access to learning opportunities that is substantively contributing to the gender pay gap. Rather it is the type, quality, and continuity of training that is perhaps preventing women from capitalising on their learning experience to progress within the labour market. In order for this to change, serious action needs to be taken to address the structural, institutional, cultural and attitudinal barriers suppressing opportunity for women at work.
Helping women and men to access sectors where they are currently under-represented and to succeed in acquiring the skills and qualifications in those sectors is a major challenge. Employers have a key role to play in and much to gain from reducing occupational segregation in the workforce. This is not just an equality issue but a business productivity one too.
A considerable proportion of women return to work after a period of maternity to jobs that are below their previously achieved skills level. This signifies a considerable waste to women in lost pay, to their employers in lost skill and the economy as a whole in lost productivity. As a result there is a mismatch between women's skills, experience and the jobs they are doing because the most appropriate worker is not always allocated to work commensurate with their talent.
Long working hours in Britain, coupled with a lack of affordable childcare means that those who want to balance work and home life find it hard to get on in the workplace and can face discrimination. Women are predominantly affected because of stereotypes and outdated perceptions of the value and categorisation of work as belonging to males or females.
Stereotypes - women are still widely thought to be better at caring for children, although thankfully this belief is starting to wane. Men who want to undertake caring responsibilities often meet with resistance from employers, rendering breaking the mould virtually impossible.
Women are paid on average less than men. Consequently if one partner is to cut back on hours or give up work it is the woman who does so. Perversely women are more likely to in an industry with flexible working arrangements. This is compounded by the poor rate of benefits paid to those who care for children or other family and the low value attached to this type of work, primarily undertaken by women. Equivalent occupations in which men are over-represented attract higher rates of pay. Put simply 'how come the people who look after our children get paid less than the people who look after our cars?'[6]
Lack of flexibility in the top flight is notorious. While some organisations are prepared to accommodate flexible working requests at less senior levels, they will not at the top. Many organisations are white, male and self-selecting, particularly in the upper echelons of power exercising dominant influence over policy decision making processes. This manifests itself in marginal representation for women in public life, evidenced by a glass ceiling that is still very much intact.
Only:
- 9% of Directors in the UK's top FTSE 100 are women
- 20% of MPs in Parliament
- 7% of top Police Officers
- 9% of High Court and Senior Judges. This is despite 34,500 women law graduates entering the profession each year.
- 23% of Civil Service management
- 9% of national newspaper editors
- 15% of council leaders
- and 18% of trade union general secretaries or their equivalent are women[7]
Inflexible workplaces make female participation difficult. Many mothers want or need to work, but find they have to trade down to get the flexibility they need. Despite 75% of girls and 60%[8] of boys saying they would consider work normally done by the opposite sex, many types of employment are still segregated.
Many women stay at home to look after family, bear most of the burden for caring duties and spend 78% more time on household chores. Career breaks, lower wages and greater workload has a detrimental effect on a woman's prosperity and sense of well being throughout her working life.
Wider Costs Wrought by the Gender Pay Gap
- Women rather than men are still likely to have more breaks from paid work to care for children and other dependents. This affects women's work experience, which in turn has an impact on their pay rates. For this reason more than 89% don't qualify for the full state pension. Retired women's income is 40% that of men's.[9] Earning potential is reduced further by an increased propensity to be carers - 28% more likely than men. Statistics show that 82% of women over the age of 65 are employed part time[10], indicating they may not be able to retire without a sufficient pension. In addition, more women work part time with fewer qualifications, concentrated in less well paid occupations. To accommodate caring responsibilities women tend to work within close proximity to home leading to a smaller jobs pool, which ultimately drives down wage levels. As a result a greater proportion of women and their families experience the effects of pay poverty.
The Poverty Trap
Much of women's poverty is hidden. In poor households women deny themselves the basics to provide for their family and shield them from poverty. Women are more likely to experience persistent poverty with 22% on low incomes compared to 14% of men.[11] Career breaks also present fewer opportunities to save over the course of a woman's lifetime and see women owe money to extortionate lenders to buy essential items such as washing machines and school uniforms. The difference in length of women's full time experience is 10.9 years and that of men 18.2 years.[12] BME women are particularly vulnerable to poverty and over half lone parent households are poor, perpetuating childhood deprivation and thus limiting the life chances of future generations.
The social security system is doing little to break down the notion that women stay at home to raise children and men go out to work.
Setting the Agenda for Change
Trade unions can motivate and effect positive change, working with employers and lobbying partners to transform the lives of working women by:
- Advocating the extension of a right to flexible working and affordable child care for all so that it is seen as the norm for men and women to share these duties, improving earning potential, career prospects and work life balance.
- Ensuring training leading to qualifications is fully accessible to women and available flexibly to support those with caring responsibilities
- Pursue community based learning initiatives to foster economic and social opportunities among hard to reach women
- Facilitating good policy and practice on gender equality in the workplace
- Working with employers to promote a workplace culture that supports women and their development
- Urging employers to recruit and retain non-traditional workers in sectors where women and men are under-represented and re-skill atypical employees to carry out this work
- Pressing for social security reforms to better address women's needs
[1] Women and Work Commission Shaping a Fairer Future Executive Summary February 2006
[2] North East ESF Framework 2007-2013
[3] 2007 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings - Median Gross Weekly Earnings by Government Office Region
[4] Time to Tackle the Training Divide TUC, OSD August 2007
[5] Women and Equality Unit: The impact of women's position in the labour market on pay and the implications for UK Productivity Prof S Walby & Dr W Olsen Nov 2002
[6] http://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=464
[7] EOC Completing the Revolution: The Leading Indicators
[8] Ibid
[9] Women's Financial Assets and Debts Fawcett Society, J Westway & S McKay Nov 2007
[10] Facts About Women and Men in Great Britain 2006
[11] http://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=22 28/02/08
[12] Women and Equality Unit: The impact of women's position in the labour market on pay and implications for UK productivity Prof S Walby & Dr W Olsen Nov 2002
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