Economic upturn ‘not helping low-paid women’

Nick Elvin

Low-paid women are failing to benefit from the economic recovery, according to a charity which campaigns for women’s rights.

A report published by the Fawcett Society states that since the start of the crisis in 2008, 826,000 extra women have moved into types of work that are typically low-paid and insecure.

In addition, female under-employment has nearly doubled to 789,000, an additional 371,000 women have moved into self-employment, and one in eight low-paid women now describe themselves as being on a zero hours contract.

The charity warns that increasing levels of women in low-paid work, along with the declining value of low pay, is contributing to widening inequality between women and men, with the gender pay gap increasing last year, for the first time in five years, to 19.1% for all employees.

The report, entitled ‘The changing labour market 2: women, low pay and gender equality in the emerging recovery’, also reveals that nearly half of low-paid women admit to feeling worse off now than five years ago, and nearly one in ten have obtained a loan from a pay day lender in the last 12 months. About one in 12 low-paid women with children have used a food bank in that same period.

Dr Eva Neitzert, deputy CEO of the Fawcett Society, said: “Whilst the economy moves into recovery it’s clear that low-paid women are not benefitting and, in many respects, are seeing their position deteriorate.

“All the major parties have talked about how vital it is that the skills and abilities of women are fully utilised in the emerging recovery, and of the need to tackle the ongoing inequality gap between women and men. In order to prove that they are serious about this, and that when they refer to ‘women’ they mean all women, there are a range of firm commitments we would like to see the parties include in their 2015 election manifestos.

“We urgently need to tackle the unacceptably low wages paid to women by substantially increasing the value of national minimum wage. At the same time, more must be done to increase the availability of quality part-time and flexible roles.”

TUC general secretary, Frances O’Grady said: “It’s great that more women are in employment but for too many working life just means a different kind of poverty and insecurity. The alarming shift in the UK’s job market towards low-pay and casualised contracts is hitting women hardest and risks turning the clock back on decades of progress towards equal pay.

“Unless more is done to tackle poverty wages and job insecurity women in particular will be excluded from Britain’s economic recovery.”