Ever since I joined the workforce in the 1970s the challenges facing women at work has been a hot topic for debate. Some things have changed but not nearly enough. Forty-five years on from the Equal Pay Act, women still earn just 81 pence for every £1 earned by a man. And worst still two-thirds of people earning low pay are women.
In my role as a UKCES commissioner, I am adding my voice to those calling for action. Action which is driven by employers, not further legislation. I believe employers are best placed to find the practical answers to start to remove barriers, challenge fixed ideas of what a job is and how it should be done, and increase flexibility in a manner which not only benefits the employee but also the business.
You can read more about the challenge in an article ‘we need new tools to stamp out the hardy perennial of gender inequality at work’ I’ve written for Real Business as part of their series focusing on gender inequality in the workplace.
This forms part of the UK Futures Programme. The UK Futures Programme is about innovation and testing new ideas, to see what works in tackling some our biggest workforce development issues and assessing the potential impact for businesses and the wider economy.
The competition brief for "Workplace solutions to the gender pay and opportunity gap", can be found here along with instructions on how to apply.
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