Gender equality still generations away

PAY DISCRIMINATION

Gender equality still generations away

In its final report, before becoming part of the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights, the Equal Opportunities Commission warns that gender equality is still generations away.

The EOC report, one of the most comprehensive examinations of gender equality ever undertaken in the UK, also warns that urgent action is needed across all aspects of life in order to complete the “unfinished social revolution”.

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With the EOC set to end on 1 October 2007, it intended its final report, Completing the Revolution, to examine not just pay and power but a wider number of indicators of gender equality.

Included were support for families, access to public services and justice and safety. Based on its findings, the EOC provides 22 indicators of the state of the nation in terms of gender equality and says that despite some advances, there are still worrying gender gaps across all areas of life. Further, it predicts that at the current rate of progress change will be painfully slow.

Countdown to equality

Where possible, for most of the 22 indicators, the EOC has projected the number of years to reach equality based on the latest statistics plus annual data for the previous five years. The projections, says the EOC, will provide a benchmark against which future progress can be measured after it closes its doors.

Indicators of inequality highlighted by the report include:

• The "pensions gap" will take 45 years to equalise: retired women’s income is currently 40% less than men's.
• The "part-time pay gap" will take 25 years to close and the "full time pay gap" 20 years. Women working part-time earn 38% less per hour than men working full time. Full-time female employees earn 17% less per hour than men.
• The "flexible working gap" is unlikely ever to change unless further action is taken. Even though half of working men say they would like to work more flexibly, currently women are much more likely than men (63% more likely) to do so.

Gender roles ahead of society

The EOC adds that despite individual gender roles transforming dramatically in the last 30 years, life around us has not caught up. As a result, society is still faced with many workplaces, institutions and services designed for an age when women stayed at home, creating further barriers to equality.

“Gender Agenda” campaign

The publication of the EOC report coincides with the launch of its “Gender Agenda” campaign which highlights the work left to do as it ceases to exist in its current form. The Agenda sets out the following priority areas for action to deliver equality for all women and men within ten years, not generations:

• closing the income gap between men and women
• giving better support to families
• modernising public services so they meet men and women’s needs
• providing equal access to justice and safety
• sharing power equally between men and women.

The EOC has also developed an interactive Gender Agenda web site where members of the public can measure whether sex inequality affects their quality of life. The “Quality of Life MOT” includes a series of short questions, which give each user a personal quality of life score, together with recommendations for change.

A view from Hay Group

Commenting on the report, Peter Christie, head of reward at global management consultancy Hay Group, says that historically, organisations have tended to view the issue of gender pay equality purely as low-scale risk.

But in order to achieve equality he says that organisations must come to view parity as a moral obligation. He adds that while it is seen as a cost-benefit analysis rather than an indefensible practice, the legacy of unequal pay between men and women will persist.

To achieve parity, Christie says that managers need to prioritise equal pay as an issue which simply has to be addressed including the following steps:

• Resources - in the form of money, time and effort - need to be invested in ensuring that pay is equal at all levels and in all functions. This must be achieved not only for identical jobs, but for different roles of similar size, scale and skill levels.
• Processes should be implemented not only to overcome pay gaps, but to prevent them from reoccurring in the future.
• Changes also need to be made to promotions and career development opportunities to overcome underlying discrimination.

A final word

As part of its findings, the EOC says: "At the current pace of change, it will take generations for the unfinished revolution to be completed and for equality for women and men to be achieved. Britain cannot wait this long. That's why the EOC is today launching a campaign for concrete change in five key areas for women and men over the next ten years, transforming our workplaces, services and communities.”

Want to know more?

Title: Completing the Revolution, Equal Opportunities Commission.

Availability: You can download all the “Gender Agenda” reports at www.eoc.org.uk/Default.aspx?page=20515

Alternatively visit www.eoc.org.uk or tel: 020 7222 1110.

To take a quality of life MOT visit www.gender-agenda.co.uk.

Hay Group’s web site is www.haygroup.com.

The Equal Opportunities Commission deals with sex discrimination and inequality related to gender, including good practice in the fair and equal treatment of men and women.

In October 2007, the work and remit of the Equal Opportunities Commission will pass to the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights.