Women's Views on News |
- Young women’s prospects still an issue
- Inquiry into pay gap for women over 40
- Dead Women Walking march: 22 November
| Young women’s prospects still an issue Posted: 13 Nov 2015 06:49 AM PST
Equal Pay Day, the day where women effectively work for free for the rest of the year because of the gender pay gap, occurred this year on 9 November. But, almost two weeks before, another 'equal pay day' passed largely unnoticed. Female apprentices started working for free on 28 October, because, as the BBC reported, the pay discrepancy between men and women in vocational training is even bigger. Headlines last month suggested that it is white working class young men who suffer the "worst start in life", however research has confirmed that after leaving school, it is young women who have the worst prospects for the future. The Resolution Foundation's new analysis, released on 2 November, showed that a shocking 36 per cent of women aged 21-30 will earn less than the Living Wage in 2016 – 7 per cent more than young men. And other research posted recently by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) reported that between 2008 and 2013 young women were more likely than young men to have no qualifications, they were less likely to be employed than men, and they earned less at all ages. Which is why the Young Women's Trust welcomed the announcement of new increased Living Wage hourly rates of £8.25 and £9.40 in London. The Young Women's Trust also echoed the Living Wage Foundation's plea in calling for businesses to pay young women fairly and adequately for their work given that so many are currently trapped in poverty. Carole Easton, chief executive of the Young Women's Trust, said: "Young Women's Trust know that despite having, on average, better school grades, too many young women are struggling on low or no pay. "16-24 year old women are much more likely than men to be workless or stuck in low-paid work. "79 per cent of those who have only had minimum wage jobs in the last 10 years are women. Employers desperately need to address pay that leaves too many below the poverty line." The Young Women's Trust supports and represents over one million women aged 16-30 trapped by low or no pay and facing a life of poverty. It is a charity that provides services and runs campaigns aiming to make sure that the potential and talents of young women don’t go to waste. The Young Women's Trust is currently examining the harsh realities of employment and pay faced by women in work and will release the findings at the end of November. Responding to OFSTED‘s recent report ‘Apprenticeships: developing skills for future prosperity’, in which Her Majesty's Chief Inspector raised concerns about the apprenticeships on offer in England, Easton said: "Many of the findings of the OFSTED report echo those of the Young Women's Trust’s own Apprenticeships Campaign. "Women overwhelmingly occupy the sectors where apprenticeships are growing as identified by the report, such as retail, admin and health and social care. "But unfortunately, these women are doubly disadvantaged. Not only do they receive poor quality training but minimal opportunities for progression afterwards. "According to our research, 7 per cent of young women on apprenticeships said they received no training at work – compared to 4 per cent of young men – and 23 per cent received no training outside of work – compared to 12 per cent of young men. "This evidence clearly shows young women are not benefiting from apprenticeships in the same way as their male peers. "Once 'qualified' women find that their qualifications are virtually redundant because they do not correlate to the sectors such as Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, where there is a clear skills shortage. "We also agree that schools and colleges need to provide better quality careers guidance. "They need to promote apprenticeships and avoid gender biased advice. "According to the Skills Funding Agency, 61 per cent of female apprentices work in just five sectors, whilst the same proportion of men work in 10 sectors – which are often better paid. "We welcome these report findings and would like to see better measures introduced which would improve outcomes for young women taking up apprenticeships."
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| Inquiry into pay gap for women over 40 Posted: 13 Nov 2015 06:02 AM PST
The chair of the Women and Equalities Select Committee, Maria Miller MP has announced an inquiry which is looking into the pay gap for women aged over 40. This inquiry will focus on three key areas: How effective will the Government's proposals announced so far be in reducing the gender pay gap faced by women aged over 40? Are there changes to these proposals that would help to reduce the gender pay gap for this group more quickly or effectively? What could be done to improve the position of women aged over 40 regarding recruitment, retention, promotion and training? The Committee welcomes evidence from as wide a range of people as possible. You can use this form to send a written submission to the Women and Equalities Committee’s inquiry on gender pay gap If you have never submitted evidence to a committee before here is some guidance to help you through the process. Written evidence addressing the themes outlined above, and the following specific issues has to be submitted to the Committee by 11pm on 29 November 2015. This inquiry aims to fill the gap by considering these areas: How adequate are the government's proposals for tackling the pay gap faced by women over 40? What additional measures would be most effective in reducing the pay differentials faced by this group? What actions would be most effective in improving recruitment, retention and re-training for women aged over 40? Is there any evidence that women aged over 40 face particular barriers to promotion? If so, what could be done to address this problem? Are there particular difficulties in narrowing the gender pay gap for women working in predominantly female sectors and non-professional roles? Are there any evidence-based measures which could effectively address these issues? Should the regulations on gender pay reporting be extended to organisations with fewer than 250 employees? Would voluntary measures regarding what employers do with gender pay gap information be sufficient to create change within organisations? What could be done to ensure that information about an organisation's pay gap is translated into action? Which mechanisms would most effectively ensure that policies designed to narrow the gender pay gap are fully complied with? Is there evidence from other countries or policy areas of what might work best? Speaking at the launch of the inquiry Miller said: “The gender pay gap is mainly a problem for women over 40, and currently hits women in their 50s even harder. "However, the measures already announced by the government don’t target this group. Our inquiry aims to fill this gap in government thinking. "We'll be asking about barriers to promotion; recruitment and training; problems facing women in predominantly female sectors and non-professional roles – and much more. "Our inquiry will make recommendations that will tackle the gender pay gap where it hits the hardest.”  |
| Dead Women Walking march: 22 November Posted: 13 Nov 2015 05:41 AM PST
The #DeadWomenWalking march aims to raise awareness of the women behind the statistics of domestic violence murders. It is a peaceful, creative 'Murder March' to remember and represent the women murdered in the UK by partners, ex-partners and family members. Last year the first #DeadWomenWalking march went to Downing Street to raise awareness of domestic violence murders. It was a respectful, artistic march where women walked in silence in red ponchos and carrying a candle with the name of a murdered woman on, and the names and ages of the 400+ women who had been killed since the election were read out loud. This year #DeadWomenWalking are marching to Parliament Square on 22 November 2015 at 2pm. Join us. The march is being organised by Claire Moore, the co-founder of Certain Curtain Theatre Company, a small scale, unfunded, professional touring company specialising in new writing and established in 1989. Since 1995, the Certain Curtain Theatre Company has been deeply and passionately committed to using compelling, original theatre to combat the complex issues of domestic violence and its impact on women and their children. Performances take place in community centres, school halls, prison – any space that can be turned into a 'theatre' for a few hours – and are linked in with local support agencies to provide face to face advice and a platform for exploration, discussion and understanding of the plight of victims of domestic abuse. The idea being that if we can change attitudes we can change everything. As part of the performances the Certain Curtain Theatre Company has a display of media coverage of domestic and sexual violence to highlight victim-blaming reporting, the lack of including domestic violence helplines and the lenient sentencing of perpetrators of male violence against women. But the headlines and media coverage are nearly always about the killers, their mental illness, their stressful job and the names of the women they had killed rarely made the headline or front page news. So seven years ago Moore decided to include a list of the names of women killed along with their age and date they were killed, to show that the women behind the statistics are real women of all ages, cultures and class and had a name. Why ‘Dead Women Walking’? Listing these deaths and researching their stories you see – you really see – how little women's lives matter. Time and time again we see that the women killed, murdered, have been failed – we see that the warning signs were missed, or not acted upon, they were not believed; in essence their murders could have been prevented. Imagine that! Prevented. Domestic homicide reviews are published and then comes the same statement we have all heard far too many times: 'Lessons will be learned'. And our hearts sink. So when will women's lives matter enough? When will we stop failing women and their children? These women should be walking, but they're not, because we let them down. We women are more likely to be raped, beaten and/or murdered by men we know than by a stranger – one in three of us will experience domestic violence and so just as the phrase ‘dead man walking’ means ‘someone who is about to die’ we are all dead women walking. Because until those lessons really are learned and women's lives are valued, statistically we are joining this too long list. Together with the ICChange campaign #DeadWomenWalking is calling on the UK government to get serious about ending violence against women, by ratifying the Istanbul Convention. The UK government signed the Istanbul Convention to end domestic violence and male violence against women on 8 June 2012 – we are calling on the government to complete the process and ratify it now. If you haven't signed the ICChange petition yet, please do. To sign click here. To join the march – or if you want to help by being a steward, click here. And there is a GoFundMe page for this year's #DeadWomenWalking event – please support and share if you can. For further details go the #DeadWomenWalking facebook page, or the website – or follow on Twitter @onein4  |
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