Hello
As you may have seen, the House of Commons’ Women and Equalities Committee published a report on the 9th February called Unequal impact? Coronavirus and the gendered economic impact. (We did a quick thread about it on twitter here). The cross-party committee, chaired by MP Caroline Nokes, found that inequality problems have been made worse for many women during the pandemic with government economic support policies "skewed towards men”.
The report looked at issues like domestic violence, childcare, maternity discrimination and more and at how sectors dominated by women had been worse hit by the pandemic, like retail, and received less support compared to male-dominated industries, such as construction. It challenged the Government, specifically the Equalities Minister, for not taking gender into account when it designed and implemented strategies.
The report concluded, unsurprisingly to many of you, that the pandemic had set back gender equality.
This echoes what we’ve heard from you - whether on forums or surveys - which is why we’ve been calling for a Women’s Strategy so we don’t go back to the 1970s in terms of maternal employment and women's place in society.
We’d like to know what you thought of the report and of the 20 recommendations for the government, which include:
- Equality Impact Assessments of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) - and other industrial schemes.
- Training schemes specifically aimed at women in the Digital, AI, and the Green Economy
- Amending the Flexible Working Regulations 2014, to remove the 26-weeks’ service threshold for employees to request flexible working arrangements
- The DWP to change the design of Universal Credit so it poses fewer risks for women’s financial independence by conducting or commissioning research into its gendered impact. They also suggest maintaining the £20 uplift.
- The DWP to expand and tailor its offer for mothers seeking employment, so that it encompasses retraining and re-skilling for jobs in the most viable sectors - and to train its staff about childcare demands on parents.
- Conducting a study to examine the adequacy of, and eligibility for, Statutory Sick Pay.
- Introducing legislation in this Parliamentary session to extend redundancy protection to pregnant women and new mothers.
- Publishing an early years strategy which sets out how childcare provision can best support not only working parents, but also those who are job-seeking and re-training.
- Urgently reinstating gender pay gap
- Exploring the potential to require the reporting of parental leave policies and to support The Equal Pay Bill.
The full report is here.
Thanks.
MNHQ