Women’s equality in the UK – A health check

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Case study: 83
Jasmine is a single mother with three children, aged ten, seven, and 17 months. She has
worked for five years as a night care assistant, working 12-hour shifts, looking after severely
disabled children. The problems with her employer started with her recent pregnancy,
which was deemed risky, causing Jasmine to go to hospital more often than normal. “They
[the employers] made me take my hospital ante-natal appointments as holiday. I looked
on the internet to see what my legal rights were and I asked my employer about their
maternity policies. They didn’t have any”. Jasmine went on maternity leave, and when she
returned to work she asked to reduce her hours, but her request was refused. Jasmine
was told that if she wanted to come back to work she would have to sign a new contract
of employment, working seven nights each fortnight. Jasmine works nights because she
can’t afford childcare. Her nieces are able to stay overnight at her house to look after her
children. When Jasmine needed to take emergency leave to care for a member of her
family, her request was refused. “When I phoned work they said: ‘Since you came back
[from maternity leave] you have been causing a lot of trouble.’ They refused to let me even
take the time as holiday.”
Recommendations:
• Protect rights at work: the weak labour market is adding to the power that
employers have over workers, and so it is essential to maintain and enforce the
vital protections that do exist for vulnerable workers
• Leave and pay arrangements should enable all women to have access to these and
targeted awareness campaigns for employee rights and employer responsibilities
must be prioritised, particularly in sectors identified by the EHRC formal
investigations 84 and the TUC vulnerable workers commission report 85
• Protect access to justice by exempting low-income workers from employment
tribunal fees. Consideration should be given to a fee system in which all unlawful
discrimination claims would be exempt from fees
Childcare
Changes to childcare under the tax system have been proposed in the Welfare Reform Bill. Lowincome
families now have to pay even more towards the already high cost of childcare, because
the Government reduced the Childcare Tax Credit, the subsidy given for nursery costs, from
80% to 70%. 86 The cut in the level of Childcare Tax Credit will increase the cost of childcare to
working parents. This will affect nearly half a million families with the average family losing £436 a
year and some losing as much as £1,300 annually. 87
At the same time as rising childcare costs, the Government has reduced the number of
available Sure Start Children’s Centres across the UK. One in four mothers has had to give up
83. Oxfam (2012) The Perfect Storm: Economic stagnation, the rising cost of living, public spending cuts, and the impact on UK poverty.
Oxfam: Oxford http://policy-practice.oxfam.org.uk/publications/the-perfect-storm-economic-stagnation-the-rising-cost-of-livingpublic-spending-228591
84. See for example Equality and Human Rights Commission (2010) Inquiry into recruitment and employment in the meat and poultry
processing industry. EHRC: London http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/legal-and-policy/inquiries-and-assessments/inquiry-into-themeat-and-poultry-processing-sectors/
85. Trades Union Congress (2007) Hard Work, Hidden Lives: The full report of the Commission on Vulnerable Employment. TUC: London
http://www.vulnerableworkers.org.uk/files/CoVE_full_report.pdf
86. Women’s Budget Group (2012) The Impact on Women of the Autumn Financial Statement 2011. WBG: London http://wbg.org.uk/pdfs/The-
Impact-on-Women-of-the-AFS-2011.pdf
87. The Telegraph (2011) ‘Cuts to childcare will cost families £436’, 28th December 2010 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/
consumertips/8228430/Cuts-to-childcare-will-cost-families-436.html
Women’s equality in the UK: CEDAW shadow report 2013 107