Women and Work commission

Established in 2004, the aim of the Women and Work Commission is to look at the wide-ranging influences on the gender pay gap:

• How men and women’s educational experience and skills acquisition foreshadows occupational segregation.
• General factors shaping women and men’s labour market experience, including entry into employment, occupational segregation, full-time and part-time work experience, progression in the workplace and the tax and benefit system, as well as discrimination.
• Women’s experience in the labour market before and after having children.
• The public sector; as a substantial employer of women it warrants particular examination.

In its report “Shaping a Fairer Future” published in February 2006 the Women and Work Commission set out 40 practical recommendations to tackle job segregation and the gender pay gap.

Proposals included setting up a national World of Work programme to improve vocational training, provide work taster days for primary school pupils and use work experience to encourage girls to think about non-traditional jobs as well as promote apprenticeships for women especially in sectors with skill shortages.

The Commissioners called on the Government to:

• fund a £20 million package to enable women to change direction and raise skill levels, including offering free skills coaching and training programmes focused on women returners
• introduce an initiative to promote quality part-time work
• promote a localised approach to matching jobs and skills using community centres, schools and children’s centres to recruit local women, to be piloted in five areas across the country
• provide support for the development and training of equality reps.

The Government Action Plan for implementing the Women and Work Commission recommendations was published on 11 September 2006. This action plan included the Exemplar Employers Initiative.  The Government has worked with Opportunity Now to engage employers who have exemplar projects covering a wide range of issues, for example, working with schools to inform girls about careers in their sector, supporting mothers returning from work.

The Government also announced the opening of the bidding process for a new quality part-time work fund. The fund has been set up in response to the Women and Work Commission, to support projects that facilitate part-time working. For example, employers can apply to the fund to seek specialist advice on how to create and retain more quality roles available on a part-time and flexible basis in their organisation. Voluntary groups and flexible working specialists are also able to apply for support for initiatives to embed quality part-time work

Other initiatives include:

• The roll-out of new ‘Equality Reps’ across England, through the Union Modernisation Fund, to  step up awareness among workers of flexible working rights and discrimination issues.
• A new 'Equality Check' that will help companies spot any emerging problems with equal treatment of staff such as determining the level of gender pay gap.
• £40m for initiatives on women’s skills and training as announced in Budget 2006
• Public sector gender duty  – an obligation on public sector to promote gender equality
• National education standards in schools to ensure all young people receive careers information, advice and guidance which are free from gender stereotyping. 
  

For more information see www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk.