The Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves will announce today that the party is to launch a review of the gender pay gap.
The review will be conducted by Reeves, Shadow Equalities Secretary Anneliese Dodds, Deputy Labour Leader Angela Rayner, and led by Frances O’Grady former head of the TUC
Launching the review Reeves will say:
“Barbara Castle’s Equal Pay Act in 1970 was groundbreaking in ensuring equal pay should be legally enforced across all sectors of the economy”, continuing: “Yet half a century later unequal pay claims persist while the gender pay gap is too great and progress has been too slow. I’m impatient and so are working women. We literally cannot afford to wait that long.” Labour’s gender pay review will form part of the party’s mission on economic growth.
The former TUC general secretary is expected to say:
“Everyone deserves to be paid a fair rate for the job”, adding: “At the current rate of progress it would take another 20 years to close the gender pay gap and women simply can’t afford to wait. My report aims to help Labour blow the lid off the state of unequal pay in Britain and set out the action we need to tackle it.”
The news comes as a report out today by the TUC finds that Women are around seven times more likely than men to be out of the labour market due to caring commitments, .
The analysis of official statistics – published as the annual TUC women’s conference starts in London today – finds that more than 1.46 million women are unable to work alongside their family commitments, compared to around 230,000 men.
The research shows that women in their 30s are the hardest hit compared to men of the same age. One in 10 women in their 30s – more than 450,000 women – is out of the labour market because of caring responsibilities – compared to just one in 100 men in their 30s.
So, women in their 30s are 10 times more likely than men to be unable to work due to family commitments at home.
But at every age – from the very start right through to the end of their careers – women are more likely than men to have to drop out of paid work because of caring commitments.
The TUC says that this illustrates that high-quality childcare that is free at the point of use should be available for all parents from the end of maternity leave to the end of primary school. This would help women stay in their jobs and continue with their careers once they have children.
The union body also found that women shoulder most of the care for older and disabled relatives too. But the TUC warned that the staffing crisis in social care was making it harder for women to stay in work alongside their caring responsibilities.
The new TUC analysis also finds that women are much more likely than men to be working in low-paid jobs – and are far less likely to be in high-paid work.
Women make up two-thirds (65%) of the 10 lowest-paid occupations in the UK, like jobs in cleaning, catering and care. But less than two in five (39%) women are working in the 10 highest-paid occupations, in industries like finance, law and IT.
The gender pay gap for all employees currently stands at 14.9%, and it widens with age.
Analysis published last month by the TUC found that this pay gap means that the average woman in paid employment effectively works for free for nearly two months (54 days) of the year, compared to the average man in paid employment.
The union body says that at current rates of progress, it will take more than 20 years to close the gender pay gap.
Millions of people across the UK work flexibly. The TUC says that flexible work helps parents and carers balance their work and caring commitments and stay in their jobs.
But a survey by the union body found that half of working mums don’t get the flexibility they request at work.
The TUC says the law needs to be changed to require all jobs to be advertised with the possible flexible working options stated – and to give all workers the legal right to work flexibly from their first day in a job.
Normalising and improving flexible working options would also encourage more men to take up these options and share caring responsibilities, says the TUC.
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “Women shouldn’t have to give up or cut down paid work because they can’t find or afford the right care for their children or older or disabled relatives.
“Too many women take a financial hit from caring for the rest of their lives – and it is a key driver of the gender pay gap. At the current rate of progress, it will be 20 years before women get pay parity with men.
“We desperately need funded high-quality childcare for all families, free at the point of use, so women can stay in work once they have kids.
“Ministers must change the law so that every single job is advertised with the possible flexible options stated, and all workers must have the legal right to work flexibly from their first day in a job.
“And ministers must fix the staffing crisis in social care so every family can find and afford the social care they need.”
Government action needed The TUC is calling on ministers to act now to keep women in work, make sure they are paid fairly, and to properly address the gender pay gap.
