House of Commons - Trade and Industry

Select Committee on Trade and Industry Written Evidence

APPENDIX 9

Memorandum by the Trades Union Congress

1. The TUC welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Trade and Industry Select Committee's Inquiry into the effect of occupational segregation on the gender pay gap. The TUC is Britain's largest voluntary organisation, representing 68 trade unions which in turn represent nearly seven million workers.

2. Trade unions have been at the forefront of every major equal pay case that has been brought since the Equal Pay Act was passed in 1970—and it was as a result of trade union action by the women working at Ford car factory that the Equal Pay Act was introduced by the Labour Government at that time.

3. The current gap between female and male earnings remains stubborn, with female full-time average hourly earnings 19.5% lower than equivalent male earnings; and female part-time average hourly earnings 40% lower than equivalent male full-time earnings. The inequity continues into retirement, as the gender gap in pensioner income is currently 41%, with 50% of women pensioners receiving less than £103 per week. [42]

4. The causes of the gender pay gap have been well documented, particularly since the Labour Government took office in 1997. Analysis of the gender pay gap has found that propensity to work part-time, interruptions in work due to family responsibilities, lower educational attainment and a highly gender-segregated labour market alongside discrimination in pay systems and more general discrimination associated with being female all have a negative impact on women's wages. [43]

5. The TUC believes that while the causes of the gender pay gap are complex, it would not be impossible to close the gap further and eliminate it in the long term. This could be brought about through a mixture of legislation and sustained cultural and structural change. As this Inquiry is focusing on the effect of occupational segregation on the gender pay gap, this response will concentrate on this area in particular.

6. Women make up 47% of those employed in the UK and 69% of women of working age are in paid employment. However, one of the key characteristics of the UK labour market is its segregation: women and men are highly concentrated in different sections of the labour market, with 60% of women working in just 10 occupations (out of 77 recognised occupations).

GENDER SEGREGATION STARTS VERY YOUNG

7. Segregation of the labour market starts early on in people's lives, and there is an expanding body of evidence which shows that the choices girls and boys make in education has ramifications for their labour market choices in the longer term.

8. Increasingly girls are outperforming boys in both GCSE and A Levels and are achieving higher grades in both. In 2003, 58% of girls compared to 47% of boys achieved five GCSE passes at grades A-C. Likewise, 43% of girls and 32% of boys passed two or more A Levels in 2003. [44]But the subject choices that girls and boys make are still clearly divided along gender lines.

9. Analysis of the 2003-04 A Level results for England show that only 22% of students who took Physics and 37% of students who took Maths were female, compared to 70% of students who took English and 75% who took Psychology. This gender division is especially clear in the results for vocational A Levels. 95% of students who took an A Level in Health and Social Care and 79% of those who took Travel and Tourism were female. This is compared to the A Levels in Construction, where 8% of students were female and Engineering where only 4% of students were female. No female students reportedly took an A Level in Manufacturing. [45]

10. The General Formal Investigation currently being undertaken by the Equal Opportunities Commission into Occupational Segregation and Modern Apprenticeships has reinforced this. It has found that Modern Apprenticeships are highly segregated by gender, with women making up just 1% of those starting on Foundation Modern Apprentice schemes (FMAs) but 97% of those starting FMAs in early years care and education. [46]

11. The TUC believes that choices and opportunities between ages 14-19 have important implications for job opportunities, future career paths, earning potential and quality of life. And the TUC is concerned that too many young people are given advice about academic and vocational education that perpetuates gender stereotypes.

12. In order to address this, the TUC believes that equality should form part of the core curriculum in schools and this should include an emphasis on challenging stereotypes. Work-experience should actively encourage take-up in non-traditional areas for both sexes. Careers advice and guidance must also be high quality and offer objective information and support that are free from gender bias and stereotyping.

13. As part of this, schools and educational institutions must be supported more widely through partnerships between the Connexions service, careers advisors, regional bodies and local Learning and Skills Councils. The TUC also believes that trade unions have a vital role to play here through, for example, Union Learning Representatives who can support teachers and educationalists in these matters.

OCCUPATIONAL SEGREGATION AND SKILLS

14. The TUC is concerned at the persistence of the highly segregated labour market in the UK as it suggests that women and men are not undertaking work which is best suited to their skills. In a report for the Women and Equality Unit on the implications of the gender pay gap on the UK's productivity, Professor Sylvia Walby and Dr Wendy Olsen argue that "gender segregation in part involves a form of labour market rigidity that prevents the allocation of the most appropriate worker to any given job slot. It may be a failure of the market to allocate people to their most productive location." [47]

15. This view is reinforced by the Equal Opportunities Commission's investigation into Occupational Segregation. The EOC have found that there is a significant correlation between sector-specific skills shortages and the under-representation of women in those sectors: the sectors include construction and plumbing.

16. Increasing and utilising the skills of the labour force is a key plank of the Government's efforts for achieving greater economic productivity in the UK. The TUC believes that both women and men should be encouraged into and supported in occupations which match their skills; through its work with trade union affiliates in workplace learning, the TUC is also demonstrating its commitment to ensuring that the workforce can improve their skills and, in turn, their employment opportunities and productivity.

17. The National Employer Skills Survey (2003) found that 41% of employers had not provided training over the past 12 months, and that only just over half of all employees (53%) received training. [48]Low skilled workers, a disproportionate number of whom are women, have less access to training. Of all working people, 36% of women have no qualifications or are qualified below NVQ Level 2, compared to 30% of men. [49]In 2004, on 5% of employees with no qualifications received any training (in the previous four weeks of the survey) compared to 23% of employees with a degree or equivalent and 24% of employees with a higher education qualification (below degree level). [50]

18. Time off for training is a particularly big barrier for women trying to balance work and family commitments. The Employer Training Pilots (ETPs) currently being trialled by the Government in one third of local Learning and Skills Councils have so far been very successful in engaging learners, particularly older women. The ETP package involves free training up to level 2, which is tailored to the workplace, and employers receive a subsidy for employees to access paid time off to train. Therefore this represents a significant step forward for women in accessing training.

19. Research undertaken in 2002 for the Women and Equality Unit showed that the majority of women who were either working part time or who were not employed at all, were interested in undergoing further training and education, but that one of the main barriers to them undertaking this was financial concerns. The researchers concluded that "the single most important measure likely to increase uptake of education and training would be the elimination of fees".[51]

20. Part-time workers have lower levels of access to training than those working full time. In 2004, 37% of full time workers had received training in the previous 13 weeks, compared to 28% of part-time workers. [52]As the majority of part time workers are women, this suggests that women will be disproportionately affected by a lack of training opportunities in their workplaces.

21. The particular barriers to training part-time workers relating to employer attitudes were identified in a Union Learning Fund supported project carried out by the South West TUC. This found that employers expressed the following views about people working part time:

— Part-timers are less committed.

— Part-timers are not interested in training.

— Part-timers have low skills.

— Part-timers have their own free time for training.

— Induction and on the job training is enough.

— Training part-timers doesn't pay.

— Experience is worth more than qualifications.

22. The TUC supports the extension of some form of ETP nationally as announced in the pre-budget report. Further, the TUC believes that a right to paid time off to train for all workers, particularly up to level 2 is important in order to reach those employers that refuse to train their workers. This has important implications for the economy, as well as for individuals to reach their full potential.

23. There is evidence that unionised workers have greater access to training than those who are non-unionised, and that women in particular benefit from this. However, trade unions' ability to offer access to training to workers is restricted by the lack of a statutory right to collective bargaining over training. While there are some rights to consultation on training under the statutory recognition procedure, the right to be consulted on training does not apply to workplaces where there is voluntary recognition.

24. The TUC has called on the Government to introduce statutory rights for collective bargaining on training as we believe that this will significantly increase the numbers of women, and especially those working part time, who can have access to training that will improve their skills and thus productivity and employability.

WORKING HOURS AND FAMILY RESPONSIBILITY

25. One of the characteristics of the UK's labour market is that some occupations are only available for full-time hours, and other occupations are only offering part-time hours.

26. These latter occupations will tend to be dominated by women workers looking to combine their working life with family responsibilities. The number of hours that people can work in paid employment is often determined by factors in their personal lives. And while the TUC is primarily concerned with people's role in the labour market, it is clear that this is both determined by and determines women's and men's domestic arrangements.

27. Despite a significant increase of women in the labour market in the last 30 years, women are still more likely than men to be the responsible for majority of the domestic and caring work in their family, and thus have to combine work with family life to a greater degree than men. One in six people aged over 16 cared for a sick, disabled or elderly person in 2000, and women are more likely than men are to be carers. In the analysis of the UK's 2000 Time Use Survey, the Office for National Statistics found that men in paid employment worked over an hour a day more than women, but that women spent an average of one and half hours per day more on housework than men.

28. Furthermore, the birth of children can have a significant impact on women's relationship with the labour market, the number of hours they can work and thus the wages they can earn. This is particularly true if women are low skilled (zero qualifications) or mid skilled (has qualifications as GCSE or equivalent level). [53]This was reinforced by a survey published as part of the Women and Equality Unit's research into the implications for UK productivity of women's labour market position and pay, which shows that a significant proportion of women shift into a lower level occupation after having children. [54]

29. The TUC believes that this is exacerbated by two key factors. Firstly, the type of jobs that are available for those wishing to work part-time and secondly the long hours that people work in the UK, especially men.

OCCUPATIONAL SEGREGATION AND PART-TIME WORK

30. Women are far more likely than men are to work part-time: in 2003 45% of women in Britain worked part time and the majority of British women will work part time at some point in their lifetime. Women who move into full-time work are likely to have previously worked part-time, and women who move into part-time work are likely to be moving from a period of non-employment.

31. Recent research commissioned by the Women and Equality Unit[55] shows that women who change from full time to part time hours, and vice versa, are likely to have to change employer and occupation and even those women who remain with the same employer are likely to have to shift occupation. This suggests that there is a lack of flexibility in hours within jobs, but also that particular jobs are considered either full-time or part-time.

32. Since April 2003, UK parents with children aged six and under (and parents of disabled children aged 18 and under) have had the right to request flexible working hours, and have this right seriously considered. Evidence on the take-up of this right by parents by both government and organisations suggests that 90% of requests have been made by women, and that most requests have been granted. However, the TUC believes that it is problematic that the right to request is limited in its scope and its powers. We believe that more workers should have the right to alter or reduce their hours, regardless of their family status. In the long term we believe that the UK Government should implement a right for all workers to work flexibly—including part time. It is only by expanding the right to a wider group of workers that part time work will become the norm in UK workplaces. In the longer term this may mean that women have more chance to stay in the same occupations whether they are working full or part time. As a consequence, this may lead to a reduction in the pay penalty that many women workers experience when they opt to work part time.

PART-TIME PAY PENALTY

33. Another characteristic of the UK's highly segregated labour market is that men tend to be concentrated in the occupations where average earnings are highest while the opposite is true for women: they tend to be concentrated in occupations such as cleaning, caring, catering, secretarial work and retail, all of which command low wages. Gender segregation in the labour market can also be explained by the fact that part time work is only available in certain occupations, and that women who wish to work part-time will tend to have to switch employers.

34. The Women and Equality Unit's research mentioned above also analysed the hourly wages between women who work full time and those who work part time, and this shows that there is a clear "Part Time Pay Penalty". This is true for both women and men who work part time, but as substantially more women than men work part-time, analysis of the pay gap that women experience may help to illuminate an aspect of the gender pay gap.

35. Overall, women who move from full time work to part time work and change employer, (as is common) experience an 8.9% drop in pay. However, many women will enter part-time work from a period of non-employment. Overall, these women will experience a pay penalty of 14.4%. And graduates who within the last 12 months have worked full time, but enter part time work after a period of non-employment (time out for family responsibilities, for example) will experience a pay penalty of 18%.

36. There are two notable outcomes of this division between occupations which are dominated by part time workers and those working full time: firstly that because part time work is only available in a few occupations this causes a "crowding" in certain occupations which offer work on a part-time basis, and as demand for jobs outstrips supply of work, wages can be reduced further; and secondly, as a reduction in hours tends to be associated with "downward occupational mobility", especially for graduates, this suggests that women's skills are not be utilised effectively—which is a cost to both the women themselves but also the economy more widely. The TUC believes that this latter point suggests a serious failure in the workings of the labour market.

EQUAL VALUE

37. While occupational segregation is a key contributor to the gender pay gap, the TUC believes that there should be as much emphasis placed on the need for men to move into non-traditional areas, as women. This will help to create a labour market where people are able to do jobs which suit their skills rather than their gender. However, men are undoubtedly deterred from undertaking work which has traditionally been viewed as "women's work", as it is highly likely to have relatively low value, status or pay attached to it.

38. The TUC therefore believes that the Trade and Industry Select Committee's inquiry into the impact of occupational segregation on the gender pay gap must also focus on the value that is placed on the work where women are concentrated. In particular, the TUC is concerned that current legislation governing equal pay for work of equal value requires a woman to find a real male comparator rather than hypothetical one, which in a highly segregated labour market is often impossible to do. However the EU's amended equal treatment directive that is coming into effect this year, in the TUC's view, may allow for hypothetical comparator.

PART-TIME WORK AND THE UK'S LONG HOUR'S CULTURE

39. Workers in the UK work, on average, the longest hours per week in the EU with 3.75 million UK employees regularly working over 48 hours per week. This is especially true for men: 26% of UK working men work more than 48 hours per week, compared with 10% men in the EU. The proportion of women working longer than 48 hours per week has increased dramatically in the recent years, and now 11% of women work more than 48 hours per week.

40. The TUC is disappointed that the UK government has chosen to retain the right for UK workers to opt-out of the Working Time Directive, as it is our belief that this is helping to fuel the long-hours culture in the UK. In its work on working time in the UK the TUC has found that 10 million employees want to work fewer hours. But two million wanted to work more hours—and those working part time accounted for over half of these workers.

41. The TUC is aware that a change in the law will not alone help to alter people's working habits. But the TUC believes that the Government's continued support for the opt-out of the Working Time Directive is sending a powerful message of support for a culture of long hours and is helping to sustain a division between work which is undertaken full-time and that which is done part time.

42. Despite increased participation of women in paid work today compared to 30 years ago, women's attachment to the labour market is set against a backdrop of continued responsibility for children and family. Although women's lives have shifted away from this quite dramatically, men's lives, and the world of work has been slower to catch on. The TUC believes that the current endorsement of the long hour's culture is hindering the necessary cultural shift needed: the opt-out of the Working Time Directive is helping to entrench prevailing gender roles of women as care giver and men as provider.

43. This is born out by the statistics that show that 30% of father regularly work more than 48 hours per week, compared to just 6% of mothers. Long hours in the workplace will prevent fathers from spending quality time with their families. Indeed, in a survey conducted by the Chartered Institute for Personnel development, it was found that of the quarter of employees who had requested the right to work flexibly under the legislation that was implemented in 2003, women made the requests to meet their childcare needs and men to gain a better balance between work and family. [56]

44. The current government has invested heavily in childcare for pre-school age children and more recently in childcare for children either side of the school day. But even with this investment, women do still tend to work fewer hours than men because of caring responsibilities. However, as is shown in the evidence outlined above, full time and part time work is heavily segregated by occupation which means that women will tend to have to move employer and occupation when they seek to reduce their hours.

45. Ending the opt out of the WTD; creating a working culture which genuinely allows women and men to balance their working lives with their family responsibilities, may, over time, allow part time working or flexible working to become more normalised for both women and men throughout their lives. This, in turn, may help to reduce occupational segregation and the pay penalty that is associated with part time work.

31 January 2005