New Fawcett report on women and the recession

Fawcett has released a new report which calls on the government to take urgent action to counter the impact of the recession on women.

The report shows that this is, literally, a man-made recession, and argues that there is now a new imperative to ensure good and representation governance in our financial institutions. It documents how women have entered this recession on an unequal economic footing that makes them particularly vulnerable to the downturn and sets out a five point plan that promotes women’s rights and economic recovery:

1. Promote women’s rights and stamp out discrimination
The Government needs to be extra vigilant that the recession does not lead to an upturn in illegal discrimination, particularly pregnancy and maternity based discrimination. Mothers are an essential part of our workforce and their wages protect many families from poverty. The Government must ensure that women know their rights for example around pregnancy and maternity leave and should use every opportunity to give employers a clear message that the recession cannot be used as an excuse to break the law. The Government must begin to monitor, as a matter of urgency, maternity related discrimination and take tougher measures to end the dismissal of pregnant women.

2. Deliver a bold package to end pay discrimination
Women in the UK experience one of the worst pay gaps in the EU – the Government’s latest estimates show that the average pay gap experienced by all women is a whopping 23%. In other words, for every pound paid to a man, a woman is paid just 77 pence. The upcoming Equality Bill offers an ideal opportunity for the Government to take bold measures to tackle the pay gap and require all organisations to audit their pay for any bias and discrimination.

3.  Promote flexible working as a solution to the downturn
There has been a welcome increase in flexible working in recent years - a full third of mothers, and just under a fifth of fathers, currently use some sort of flexible working arrangement. The Government must recognise that flexible working is a key feature of a competitive, modern labour market and must take action to extend entitlement to all those who need it. This would work not only for the individual but also for companies who are seeking flexibility to deal with fluctuating demand. Currently, the right to request flexible working kicks in only after you have been in a job for six months. Fawcett is today calling on the Government to extend that right to the day a job begins, so that job seekers with caring responsibilities have access to a broader range of opportunities.

4. Fast-track women into decision making positions
The collapse of financial institutions has vividly demonstrated how power in our major corporate rests almost exclusively in the hands of white men. It is important not to descend into outmoded stereotypes about women and men which characterise men as testosterone driven and women as risk-averse. The stronger argument lies in the fact that the selection for these positions bypassed 52% of the population, clearly compromising their search for the very best talent. In addition, by engaging only one narrow demographic in decision making positions, they created a high risk of “group think” whereby people from the same background and world view were less likely to challenge one another. By using quotas, Norway has increased its representation of women on the board from 6% to 44% in six years. Fawcett is calling on the Government to adopt quotas for FTSE companies to ensure better governance across the corporate sector.

5. Ensure women’s skills are harnessed on the road to recovery
Women’s skills are frequently untapped or under-utilised in the UK economy. The Women and Work Commission estimates that closing the gender skills gap would boost GDP by between £15 and £23 billion annually. It is critical that women have fair access to skills and back to work programmes and that these programmes recognise the needs of mothers returning to work. Access to these programmes should be relaxed so that women seeking to return to work after a period spent looking after children are able to do so. Furthermore, Train to Gain, apprenticeship schemes and other continuing education provision needs to be better tailored to women’s needs for training that fits around childcare commitments and that is suitable for uptake later in life.

Dr Katherine Rake, the report’s author and Director of the Fawcett Society commented:

“Women enter this recession on an unequal footing which makes them more economically vulnerable – they are more likely to work flexibly, be in part-time work, on temporary contracts and in low paid work and as a result, they have fewer resources to cushion the impact of downturn. We are particularly concerned that new or expectant mothers will be ‘picked off’ as unscrupulous employers look for a reduction in their workforce.”

“In the US, Barack Obama signed new equal pay legislation as one of his first political acts. Voters in the UK, especially women voters, will be looking to the Government for similarly bold measures. To date, however, they have been disappointed and rumours that Mandelson is derailing upcoming equality legislation will be very worrying to women at this time.”

 “This recession must not be used as an excuse to send women back to the kitchen. The enormous strides that women have made in workplace equality must be protected during tough times and we cannot afford to lose women’s vital skills as we seek a route to recovery. Women are now looking to the Government to send out a strong signal to business that it will not compromise on women’s rights.”

Are women bearing the burden of the recession? A Fawcett Society report. March 2009
A Fawcett report which documents how women have entered this recession on an unequal economic footing and sets out a five-point plan for economic recovery that would protect women's rights.