Women's Minister lays out priorities at Fawcett event (24/05/06)

New Women’s Minister Ruth Kelly laid out thinking on work life balance at a Fawcett seminar held in Downing Steet.

Ms Kelly was speaking at Joined up thinking for gender equality an event held jointly on May 24th 2006 by the Fawcett Society and the Smith Institute to discuss what the Government needs to do to close the inequality gaps between women and men – and stress the need for policies to be worked out across the Government not in isolation.

The text of her speech is laid out below (the subtitles through the text have been added by Fawcett’s web editor).

“I am delighted to be here today. And I am delighted to have been made Minister for Women. There could be few more important times to take on this role – it is a job increasingly at the heart of achieving a fairer and more prosperous country.

I would like to pay tribute to my predecessors – Tessa Jowell and before her Patricia Hewitt, and of course the sterling efforts of Meg Munn, who not before time will now be paid! I have had a long standing interest in these issues. Part of the attraction of the role is its breadth with a remit stretching from domestic violence to getting more women into our civic life.”

Work life balance and social justice

Today however, I want to focus on the challenge of supporting women – and of course fathers as well – to balance work and family commitments.

The social justice argument for greater gender equality is clear.  It is about women being able to flourish in their career.   It is about recognising caring and rewarding people with decent pensions.  And it is about mothers and fathers being able to make their own choices about balancing work and family life.  Everyone should feel that they have a fair chance – not just in the workplace, but in our communities and in society. 

I know myself how hard it can be to balance a rewarding career with family life. And I passionately believe that a society where women and men are truly treated equally is one which will be better for all of us to live in.

Work life balance and economic competitiveness

But greater fairness is only half the story.  The economic case is also compelling – and I think in the past it has been underplayed.  The Women and Work Commission estimated that increasing and changing women’s participation in the labour market could be worth between £15 billion and £23 billion a year to the British economy.

We can ill afford what remain significant gender inequalities.   And with more women choosing to work no government can ignore this issue – over the next decade the majority of the 1.3 million jobs likely to be created will be taken up by women.

Employers increasingly realise that maximising the potential of all staff makes business sense.   The best employers – from Microsoft UK to small businesses like the housing association, Tower Homes – provide a more flexible workplace.  And they have been rewarded with higher morale and greater loyalty.

A coalition of support

That is why business has been part of a wide coalition of support – a coalition involving many others in this room, from local government and trade unions to the EOC and Fawcett Society.

It is a coalition which has achieved much:

• generous extensions to leave
• an impressive improvement in the availability and quality of childcare
• the right to request flexible work
• and from April next year a new public sector Gender Duty requiring the proactive promotion of equality

When I wrote in 2000 for the Fabian Society about extending parental leave I would never have dreamt how much we would achieve.    Progress has only been possible because we have been prepared to take the hard decisions and because we have put money where our mouth is.

Every reform we’ve made has been opposed by vocal groups who did not want to do anything that might cause business to have to re-organise to take account of modern trends. Everyone in this room knows that it takes more than warm words and a soundbite to make a reality of flexible working.

If we are to tackle the remaining persistent patterns of disadvantage we need a government prepared to keep taking on the doubters and those who fear reform.

The pay gap

Women’s employment rate has increased, something made easier by the extra investment in decent childcare.   But while the employment rate for women has increased, the gender pay gap – particularly for part-time work – has remained stubbornly high.

We now need to combine allowing more women to work when they choose to, with measures to improve the quality of that work; the chances women have to progress and get on and the rewards they receive.

Workplaces must reflect women’s needs.   There has been a significant change in culture and improvements in how workplaces respond to women’s needs.  We have given 3.6 million parents with young and disabled children the right to request flexible working.  And it has worked. 

Since the changes were introduced the number of requests refused by employers have halved.  And between 2002 and 2005 the percentage of women changing employers when they return to work after having children almost halved.

It is only because of the progress we have made, and the tough decisions made since 1997 that we can now talk about going further on many of these issues.

The Women and Work Commission

The Women and Work Commission’s report provides the foundations for moving forward.   Its ideas are innovative and forward-looking and I am grateful to Margaret Prosser and all the commissioners for their commitment. 

The Prime Minister has asked me to turn the report into a compelling action plan.  I will pursue this rigorously across government.   We need to deliver on the recommendations which seek to shape the choices that girls make about what to study and which jobs to aspire towards.   This is something which really concerned me as Education Secretary.  I started a review of the advice and guidance pupils receive as part of the 14-19 reforms, and I will be following progress closely. 

We must also push through improvements to learning and training throughout women’s lives.   We must open up greater opportunities for women of all ages who want to train for a new job, or to get on and move to the next level in their existing career.  Not by shifting more from the under 25s to the over 50s, but by doing our best at every age.  The integration of skills and employment services that the Chancellor set out in the Budget must be used to boost the position of women. 

Part-time working

And I am confident that more companies can provide quality part-time work.   A range of exemplar companies have committed to develop and deliver programmes that support the Women and Work Commission’s recommendations and I hope that more will come forward in the following months.

The Women and Work Commission also pressed us to be more innovative in the way we connect with women.

They highlighted the creative methods employed by organisations like Women Like Us - which links women with employers in North London.  What really impressed the Commission was the way Women Like Us recruit women at the school gate, build their confidence about getting into work and then help them find jobs which fit around their family responsibilities.

I will be meeting the founders of Women Like Us later this morning to hear more about their work.  I am delighted that this week they have registered their 1,000th woman - a great achievement in a short period.

The Women and Work Commissioners will be coming back together in a year’s time to review our progress.    I welcome that scrutiny.  It is my job to ensure that we have a lot to report back.

But the Commission did not just provide a menu of recommendations.   There were also broader lessons.   One stark finding is that there is no one magic solution to narrowing the gender pay gap.   All countries have grappled with this issue – none of them have cracked it, though some have made more progress than others.  

Pay legislation

Tangible changes in people’s lives must be our focus.  Anti-discrimination legislation plays a vital role and there is little doubt that the Sex Discrimination Act and the Equal Pay Act have helped shape attitudes and improve life-chances.

But, on its own, legislation can never tackle the shameful waste of talent that current levels of gender inequality reflects.  Indeed, the Smith Institute report launched today points out that recent increases in women’s earnings have not been accompanied by any legislative changes.  Many factors shape women’s life-chances – from the availability of decent childcare through to the culture in the workplace. 

As a government we should approach this issue like any other.

There must be a clear test for any changes in law.   Where there is strong evidence they will lead to direct benefits in people’s lives there should be no argument.  But where this is not the case, we must look at the broader picture – at what we know works.

One area – as I have outlined – where there is evidence that legislative changes will drive cultural change is with the right to request flexible working.  It is because we this can translate into changes in people’s lives that we are extending the right to up to 1.5 million carers from April next year.

Carers

There is a broader challenge here.  For too long carers have had a raw deal.   And their contribution to the economy and society has been undervalued.  With many more women having the double burden of caring for children and elderly relatives and an aging society we may need to go further.  As a priority we need to improve the support available for carers.   We know that many feel forced to give up work due to the lack of flexible employment.

• Should we also extend the right to request flexible working to parents of children over six?  
• Do we need better respite care?
• What would it take to provide a comprehensive package of support for carers?

These are all issues we must push as part of the upcoming spending review.  We also need to make clear how the pensions reforms being announced by John Hutton tomorrow will help this group.  Our pensions system has for too long been designed around traditional male patterns of working. 

At present only 30 per cent of women reaching state pension age are entitled to the full Basic State Pension compared to 84 per cent of men.   This is little short of a national scandal and long overdue for change.

That is why the White Paper tomorrow will be such good news for women generally and carers in particular.  The full details will be released tomorrow – but as John Hutton has already said it will both reduce the number of years people need to have worked to qualify for a full basic state pension and crucially there will be increased recognition given to caring.

The second state pension will also be reformed.   Introduced in 2002, it is already better for women than its predecessors, but the White Paper will go further.  A new carers’ credit will do more to make men’s and women’s pensions more equal.  Overall the reforms will deliver greater fairness as well as greater certainty and clarity for all. 

Conclusion

So over the next 12 months there are some enormous opportunities.   We have changed the landscape of political debate with the other main parties now feeling the need to talk the talk on delivering for women. 

I welcome this change.

While in practice the Tories may be some way behind us – unwilling to make the hard decisions – their new interest means that we must redouble our efforts.  As a government we must work with many people here today.

I am excited about what can be achieved.   We must marry our passion to forge a fairer country with a hard headed analysis of what really delivers change.   And we must ensure we realise the economic as well as social justice benefits. Thank you.