Extract from oral answer (Lords) on Retail Sector: Unemployment - Jan 27
Thursday, 28 January 2021 08:16
Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho (CB) [V]: At the Covid-19 Select
Committee yesterday, both the Fabian Society and the British
Independent Retailers Association gave startling evidence to our
inquiry. Both said, quite rightly, that this would
disproportionately affect women, who traditionally have held many
more roles in the retail sector. Many of these roles are now going
towards distribution centres, where, as we know, the gender balance
is different. What are the Government measuring in
relation...Request free trial
(CB) [V]: At the Covid-19 Select
Committee yesterday, both the Fabian Society and the British
Independent Retailers Association gave startling evidence to our
inquiry. Both said, quite rightly, that this would
disproportionately affect women, who traditionally have held many
more roles in the retail sector. Many of these roles are now going
towards distribution centres, where, as we know, the gender balance
is different. What are the Government measuring in relation to this
question and what actions do they plan to take to mitigate the
impact on women?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy () (Con):
The noble Baroness is correct, sadly. We recognise that many
of those losing their jobs in this sector are likely to be younger,
low-skilled female workers, hence the importance of higher
universal credit payments, the Kickstart programme and
JETS and, from January 2021, the
Job Finding Support service. We have temporarily increased
universal credit by around £1,000 a year and are doubling the
number of work coaches to 27,000 in 2021.
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