Women’s equality in the UK – A health check

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11.19 11.20 11.21 11.22 11.23 temporary jobs. 45 Therefore there is a risk that BME women will suffer disproportionately as a result of public sector job cuts. Employers also need to do more to support lesbian and bisexual women who continue to face harassment, discrimination and negative stereotypes in the workplace and are excluded from employee networks. 46 Disabled women are already less likely to be in employment and suffer widespread discrimination in the jobs market. 47 With unemployment increasing, there is a danger that this problem will get worse. For example, disabled women are four times more likely to report being bullied than other employees. 48 Despite the Government’s claim to have introduced “reforms to remove barriers to work”; 49 disabled women report experiencing extreme levels of exclusion from colleagues and employers. As is the case with many other areas, in theory disabled women are said to have equal opportunities in the labour market but in practise the situation is often very different: for instance, a tenth of disabled women have incomes below £31 per week compared with a tenth of disabled men, who have incomes below £59 per week. 50 At the same time as the Government claims to be helping disabled people back into work, the Access to Work 51 funding scheme, which meets the costs to employers of any reasonable adjustments needed in a workplace, has been slashed. 52 (See Appendix: 36 for more information) Additionally, public sector job losses could disproportionately affect disabled women and this is where many disabled women work because of the focus on equality and anti-discrimination in the sector. Recommendation: Take steps to address the gender pay gap and high unemployment rates of women with disabilities, such as creating accessible employment opportunities and providing appropriate support and adaptation Benefits and workfare/volunteering The Government has introduced a number of policies that make entitlement to benefits more conditional on looking for work. This approach has a detrimental effect on women in several ways: Cuts to tax credits for part-time workers will hit women hardest as nearly three times as many women as men work part-time in the UK. From April 2012 couples with children earning less than £17,000 a year will have to increase their working hours from a minimum of 16 to 24 hours 45. The Fawcett Society (2009) Poverty Pathways: Ethnic minority women’s livelihoods. Fawcett and Oxfam: London http://www.womens. cusu.cam.ac.uk/campaigns/bem/fawcett_ethnicminoritywomen.pdf 46. Women’s Resource Centre (2010) In All Our Colours: Lesbian, bisexual and trans women’s services in the UK. Briefing 10: LBT women and health. WRC: London 47. Equality and Human Rights Commission (2010) How fair is Britain? The report of our first Triennial Review. http://www.equalityhumanrights. com/key-projects/how-fair-is-britain 48. Equality and Human Rights Commission (2011) Hidden in Plain Sight: Inquiry into disability-related harassment. http://www. equalityhumanrights.com/legal-and-policy/inquiries-and-assessments/inquiry-into-disability-related-harassment/hidden-in-plain-sightthe-inquiry-final-report/ 49. Government Equalities Office (2011) CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women) report. United Kingdom’s Seventh Periodic Report. GEO: London http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/equalities/international-equality/7thcedaw-report?view=Binary 50. Disabled People Against Cuts (2010) ‘Disabled people fight back in protest – UK disability news’, Disabled World website, 15th December 2010 http://www.disabled-world.com/news/uk/fighting-back.php#ixzz19LVQRNp3 51. Department for Work and Pensions, Access to Work https://www.gov.uk/access-to-work/overview Accessed: 13/04/13 52. Bott, S. (2011) ‘Speech to Independent Living Festival’, DPAC website 27th February 2011 http://www.dpac.uk.net/2011/02/sue-bott-onindependent-living/ Accessed on: 13/04/2013 102 Women’s equality in the UK: CEDAW shadow report 2013
11.24 11.25 11.26 per week or they will lose their Working Tax Credits. This is worth £3,870 per year, or more than £70 per week, to families and government figures show that 212,000 households could be hit, including 470,000 children. Unemployment and job cuts will make it almost impossible for most part-time working women to get extra hours so they will lose out and some may be forced to leave work if the cuts mean they can no longer afford the increasingly high costs of childcare. 53 (See Appendix: 18) Recommendation: The National Minimum Wage should be increased automatically at least in line with inflation or average earnings, whichever is the higher Lone parents Measures introduced in the Welfare Reform Act 2012 mean that unemployed lone parents whose children are over five are now moved from Income Support to JSA and are therefore required to seek and be available for work. Failure to comply with the work-seeking requirements of JSA can result in removal of benefits. This measure disproportionately affects women as women head over 90% of lone parent households. 54 Despite this, there remain significant underlying structural barriers to women’s entry in to the workforce that have not been addressed. There is evidence that the Government’s latest initiative to get people back to work, the Work Programme, 55 gives only generic support about work-seeking and fails to tailor its services to the needs of lone parents. 56 Cuts to Childcare Tax Credits and the reduction in available childcare will also have a particular impact on lone parents who do not have another parent to share childcare. 57 (See Appendix: 18) Another issue for lone mothers is that around 25% do not qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay. 58 Therefore, mothers who are lone parents are far more likely to take a short period of maternity leave, with 48% returning to work within three months, compared to 31% of partnered mothers. 59 This has impacts on their health and on the health of their children. (See Appendix: 15 and 17 for further information) Working to reduce the gender pay gap After continuous if slow improvement for the past 30 years, progress towards gender pay equality seems to have halted, 60 even though in 2008 the CEDAW Committee recommended that the UK take proactive and concrete measures to eliminate occupational segregation. 61 The 2011 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 62 revealed some improvement in women’s 53. UNISON (2012) InFocus April 2012. UNISON: London http://www.unison.org.uk/Acrobat/IF2012.04.pdf 54. Rake, K. and Rotheroe, A. (2009) Are Women Bearing the Burden of the Recession? The Fawcett Society: London http://tinyurl.com/ cb4jo9w 55. Department for Work and Pensions, The Work Programme https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/helping-people-to-find-and-stay-inwork/supporting-pages/managing-the-work-programme Accessed: 19/04/13 56. Dewar, L. (2012) Is the Work Programme Working for Single Parents? An Analysis of the Experience of Single Parents Moving onto the Work Programme. Single Parent Action Network http://spanuk.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/final-work-prog-ib-1502-11.pdf 57. Gingerbread, Statistics http://www.gingerbread.org.uk/content/365/Gingerbread-Factfile Accessed: 13/04/13 58. La Valle, I., Clery, E. and Huerta, M. (2008) Maternity rights and Mothers employment decisions. Department of Work and Pensions Research Report No. 496 http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2007-2008/rrep496.pdf 59. Dex, S. and Ward, K. (2007) Parental Care and employment in early childhood. EOC working paper series No. 57 http://www. fatherhoodinstitute.org/uploads/publications/257.pdf 60. Equality and Human Rights Commission (2010) How fair is Britain? The report of our first Triennial Review. http://www.equalityhumanrights. com/key-projects/how-fair-is-britain 61. CEDAW Committee (2008) Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Forty-first session http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N09/555/92/PDF/ N0955592.pdf?OpenElement Para 40 62. Office for National Statistics (2011) Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2011 (ASHE). ONS: London http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/ashe/ annual-survey-of-hours-and-earnings/ashe-results-2011/ashe-statistical-bulletin-2011.html Women’s equality in the UK: CEDAW shadow report 2013 103
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Women’s equality in the UK - A he
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Women’s equality in the UK - A he
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Appendices (online only) Appendix 1
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• the continued discrimination ag
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• Develop a common model of analy
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Article 9 - Nationality: One third
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investment in social infrastructure
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and increase the marginalisation of
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have been no prosecutions in Englan
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1 2 3 4 5 Introduction This is a Un
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10 11 12 13 housing crisis, a ‘lo
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1.1 1.2 1.3 Article 1 - Overarching
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1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 1.12 Women’
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1.17 1.18 1.19 Young women We are a
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2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 consult to “remov
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2.12 2.13 discrimination”. Howeve
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2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 worsen gen
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2.26 2.27 2.28 2.29 CEDAW and the l
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3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 would “increase
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3.15 3.16 3.17 and accountable EHRC
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3.22 3.23 3.24 report is was partic
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classes, migrants, and Gypsy, Trave
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the institutional discrimination an
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5.5 5.6 5.7 Case study: 8 Sandra li
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5.12 5.13 5.14 issue. A more approp
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Page 63 and 64: 7.7 7.8 7.9 7.10 The House of Lords
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Page 127 and 128: 12.60 12.61 12.62 12.63 12.64 hospi
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15.6 15.7 15.8 15.9 15.10 15.11 The
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15.14 15.15 15.16 purport to be vic
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15.21 15.22 15.23 Case study: 35
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15.28 15.29 15.30 15.31 has not pro
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15.35 15.36 behaviour by male priso
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16.5 16.6 people being forced into
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16.10 16.11 16.12 16.13 16.14 16.15
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16.21 16.22 frequently women’s ac
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Recommendations: • Parents with c
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19.6 19.7 19.8 as well as for our c
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19.13 19.14 19.15 19.16 The Governm
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19.22 19.23 19.24 19.25 VAWG is a c
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19.30 19.31 19.32 19.33 DV is still
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19.38 19.39 19.40 perpetrators thro
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19.43 19.44 19.45 Support for victi
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19.49 19.50 19.51 19.52 Recommendat
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19.57 19.58 19.59 19.60 BMER VAWG p
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19.62 19.63 19.64 19.65 VAWG in hea
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19.70 19.71 19.72 Invisibility of s
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19.77 19.78 19.79 A number of repor
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19.85 19.86 means more provision. T
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Annex 1: The Devolved Administratio
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to 41.8% of rural men. 16 Rural are
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Annex 2: The UK’s relationship wi
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Annex 3: UK reservations and declar
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ESA - Employment and Support Allowa
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Annex 5: Acknowledgements Many than
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Women’s Resource Centre is suppor
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