Asked by
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of
the reasons why women are paid less than men; and what steps they
are taking to address this issue.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Levelling Up, Housing & Communities () (Con)
Robust equal pay protections in the Equality Act made it unlawful
to pay men and women differently for the same work or work of
similar value. However, on average women earn less than men over
the course of their careers. This is caused by many factors,
including women being more likely to take time off work because
of caring responsibilities and to work in lower-paid occupations
and sectors. The Government are committed to helping women reach
their full potential and are changing the culture of the
workplace by enabling more people to request flexible working,
extending redundancy protection for those on maternity leave,
introducing carer’s leave, and strengthening protections against
harassment in the workplace.
(Lab)
I thank the Minister, and wish her a happy International Women’s
Day. Recent analysis by the TUC shows that women effectively work
for free for two months of the year. It will take 20 years to
bridge the gender pay gap, which is even greater for older women.
On International Women’s Day, will the Minister agree that this
is simply not acceptable and let the House know exactly how the
Government plan to right this wrong?
(Con)
I wish a happy International Women’s Day to everybody in the
House as well. I said some of the things that the Government are
doing in my Answer, but the gender pay gap has fallen from 19.6%
to 14.9% over the last decade. More importantly, the percentage
of women in employment has gone up from 66.5% to 72.3%. The
Government are doing something for women and will continue to do
so because they think that it is an extremely important issue.
(LD)
My Lords, what consideration has been given to the possibility
that fewer women are being encouraged or equipped to take on the
better-paid professions? Much of this goes back to schools, where
fewer girls are taking up STEM subjects. What is the Minister
going to do about that?
(Con)
The noble Baroness is absolutely right. That is why we are
working with schools and encouraging young people to take up STEM
subjects in particular. Since 2010, there has been a 31% increase
in girls’ entry into STEM A-levels. That is a great success, but
there has also been a 34% increase in women being accepted on to
full-time STEM undergraduate courses in the UK. I look forward to
this increasing, because we need more women in these areas.
(Lab)
My Lords—
(Con)
My Lords—
(GP)
Women!
Noble Lords
Oh!
(Lab)
Thank you. There is widespread agreement that an effective
parental leave scheme that encourages fathers to shoulder more of
the work of caring for young children is one of the keys to
gender equality at work. There is also wide agreement that the
current parental leave scheme is utterly ineffective. It is now
five years since the Government began their review of the scheme.
What has happened to it?
(Con)
Interestingly enough, we have launched an online tool, hosted by
GOV.UK, to make it easier for parents to check if they are
eligible for shared parental leave, plan their leave, and give
the required notice and information to their employer. The number
of couples taking up shared parental leave and pay is increasing
year on year; last year it was at 13,000. We are also looking at
what more we can do to make it easier for fathers to take
paternity leave, to challenge the entrenched assumption that
caring is the sole responsibility of the mother.
(Con)
My Lords, am I not right in thinking that the Royal Air Force has
recently authorised women to fly fast jet aircraft on operations
for the first time ever? If I am right and that is the case, can
the Minister confirm that they are paid the same salary?
(Con)
I am sorry; I cannot confirm that they are paid the same salary,
but it is a jolly good job if they are doing the same as the men.
(Lab)
Will the Minister reflect on whether we have a historic fatal
flaw in equal pay legislation? We leave it to women themselves to
find out the comparators and sue their employers. In every other
area where the state wants to regulate, it takes on principal
responsibility for inspection and enforcement.
(Con)
I think the equal pay scheme has worked well since 1970, and it
was protected but also enhanced in 2010. Many employers conduct
regular equal pay audits in their companies, which is a good
thing. It ensures that they are not acting unlawfully and that
their staff are treated equally. In 2014, the Government
strengthened equal pay protections by introducing mandatory equal
pay audits for organisations that lose any equal pay claim, so if
an organisation goes wrong, we will check it out.
(GP)
The gender pay gap at tech start-ups in the UK is more than
double the national average, with women paid 70p for every pound
that men earn, according to a study by the salary benchmarking
platform Figures. This is particularly disturbing given that
there is no historic hangover in tech start-ups. Can the Minister
tell me what the just-released UK science and technology
framework is doing to address this situation?
(Con)
I cannot say what it is doing, but I can get an answer for the
noble Baroness.
(Con)
We know that for every pound a man makes, a woman makes only 86p
and that it will take 132 years to close that pay gap, but
actually the biggest barrier to women furthering their careers is
having access to high-quality affordable childcare. What are the
Government doing about that?
(Con)
My Lords, the UK has some of the highest-quality child provision
in the world. We know the sector is facing economic challenges,
but challenges are being faced across the whole economy. By the
end of 2024-2025, an additional £510 million will have been
provided for that sector, but we are not complacent and continue
to look at ways to make childcare more affordable and to
encourage families to use the government-funded support to which
they are entitled.
My Lords, in 2019 the Royal College of Nursing found that 90% of
all nurses in the UK are women and that they fill less than a
third of senior positions and earn on average 17% less than men.
That is despite the fact that the Royal College of Nursing also
noted that nursing is a gendered profession seen as a woman’s
role. What steps are the Government taking to ensure that female
nurses progress to senior positions?
(Con)
I will talk to my colleagues in Health about that issue. I was
not aware of it, but it is important and I will take it forward
and come back to the right reverend Prelate.
(LD)
My Lords, research has shown that the gender pensions gap between
men and women is 17% at the start of women’s careers and a
staggering 56% at retirement. What are the Government doing to
make sure that women get a fair deal on retirement and do not
lose out because they have taken on caring responsibilities or
other unpaid but valuable work?
(Con)
Measures have been put in place to improve the state pension
outcomes for most women. More than 3 million women stand to
receive an average of £550 more per year by 2030 as a result of
the recent reforms. Under the new state pension, outcomes are
projected to equalise for men and women by the early 2040s, more
than a decade earlier than they would have under the old system,
so I think we are on top of that issue.
(Lab)
My Lords, the gender pay gap has reached 15% and is getting
worse, not better. That is a disgrace, is it not, especially as
more than half the women say they would use any additional money
just to put more heating and lighting on in their homes,
according to the Fawcett Society? It is unbelievable. How sad is
that in Britain today? The ETUC and my own union, Unite, are
clear that the most effective way to tackle the gender pay gap is
through collective bargaining. Does the Minister therefore agree
that negotiating a legally enforceable right to know what a male
colleague is being paid for equal work would be a step in the
right direction?
(Con)
The noble Lord is wrong. As I have already said, the gender pay
gap is improving and, no, I do not agree that making that
mandatory would make the position even better for women.
