Fawcett wants bold measures on women and work (24/02/06)

The Fawcett Society has urged the Women and Work Commission to call for radical measures when it reports next week (1).

The Labour Government has stressed the importance of gender equality in the workplace – but we are still waiting for the action to back this up.

Dr Katherine Rake, Director of the Fawcett Society said: “Women have waited too long for this Government to take action and we fear the Women and Work Commission will not go far enough in calling for the radical measures we need.

“At the current rate it’s going to take more than 40 years to close the full-time pay gap and around 140 to end the part-time pay gap (2). We’re not prepared to wait that long.

“Simply encouraging employers to change is not going to work fast enough. We need the Government to introduce strong enforcement measures to combat discrimination and narrow the pay gap.

“Fawcett celebrates its 140th anniversary this year. We know change sometimes takes time, but I’d hate to think we’d still need to be fighting this 140 years from now.”

Fawcett believes the following measures are necessary:

• Compulsory gender pay audits for all organisations. As the pay gap is wider in the private sector than the public sector (3), it is important that audits are introduced to the private sector as a matter of urgency.
  
  
• Measures to combat the long hours working culture that limits women with caring responsibilities from competing on an equal basis with men, including full sign-up to the Working Time Directive to combat.
  
  
• Government and employers to encourage men – not just women - to engage with work-life balance issues.
  
  
• Improved pay and employment for part-time workers, who face the largest pay gaps.
  
  
• Urgent action to help those women facing the greatest inequality in the workplace, particularly some groups of Black and Minority Ethnic women. Bangladeshi and Pakistani women earn 44% less an hour than White men.~
  
  
• Government to adopt set target dates for closing the pay gap.

Notes to editors

(1) The Women and Work Commission was set up by the Government in July 2004 to investigate the gender pay gap and other issues affecting women's employment. It is expected to publish its final report on Monday 27 February 2006.

(2) Since 1997 the median full time hourly gender pay gap has closed by just 3.6% (from 20.7% to 17.1%). At that rate of change it would take more than 40 years to close completely. The part-time gap has narrowed by only 2.5% (from 41% to 38.5%) in the same period meaning it would take around 140 years. Since 1997 the Government has introduced some measures that have benefited women in work, for example the minimum wage, greater rights for part time workers and gender pay audits for the public sector, but much more is required.

(3) In the private sector, men working full-time earn 23% more an hour than their female counterparts and 45% more than women working part time. In the public sector, the respective figures are 13% and 34%.

(4) Fawcett is the UK’s leading campaign for equality between women and men. Our vision is of a society in which women and men can enjoy equality at work, at home and in public life.