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Memorandum submitted by YWCA (E 29) Equality Bill Written Evidence
YWCA
England &
YWCA
welcomes the Government's commitment to introducing the Equality Bill. It
offers an important opportunity to tackle inequality and disadvantage and make
the
Socio-economic inequalities (Clause 1) YWCA supports the public sector duty regarding socio-economic inequalities. This will require specified public authorities, when making strategic decisions, to consider how their decisions might reduce the inequalities associated with socio-economic disadvantage. It is well evidenced that a person's socio-economic background strongly influences their life chances. Socio-economic background compounds the discrimination already faced by young women we work with on the basis of their gender and age. Recognising and tackling this complex issue will be a driver to social mobility and true equality. Whilst we strongly welcome the direction of the Government, we are concerned that there appear to be no priorities attached to this or any enforcement power.
Gender pay gap and equality at work - (Clauses 72, 73 & 153) YWCA welcomes the Government's continued commitment to tackling the gender pay gap which remains unacceptably high. Our More than one rung campaign highlighted the high level of occupational segregation that still exists in the workplace. The report published by DIUS in 2008, Apprenticeship Pay: A 2007 survey of earnings by sector, showed that there is a 21% gender pay gap in apprenticeships with women dominating the lowest paid sectors such as hairdressing and early years, and men dominating the highest such as electro-technical. We welcomed proposed practical measures to overcome this in the Government's Apprenticeship strategy such as critical mass pilots for under-represented groups and mentors to support them. We believe that this approach must be built on and more done to tackle occupational segregation and assumptions about work as a whole. We also welcome measures in this Bill to create transparency in pay, remove secrecy clauses and to allow positive action. However, we believe that this Bill presents an opportunity to go further and to make specific legal changes to make it easier to bring unequal pay cases forwards. This would include the use of hypothetical comparators in discrimination cases and representative actions.
(Schedule 9, paragraphs 11 & 12) As part of our More than one rung campaign, YWCA called for apprentices to receive the equivalent of the National Minimum Wage which would make the biggest difference to female apprentices working in the lowest paid sectors. Young women have told us that low pay has contributed to them dropping out of apprenticeships. We were therefore disappointed to see that the Equality Bill keeps the exemption for apprentices.
We are furthermore disappointed that the Bill also keeps the different rates of national minimum wage for young people under 22. These lower rates for young people under 22 and under 18 make assumptions that young people can live on less money because they have family support. This is not always true and means that many young women we work with struggle to survive on lower levels of pay when their living costs remain the same as those of older people. Women still dominate the lowest paid job sectors and therefore continue to be particularly disadvantaged by these exemptions. We welcomed the recent Government announcement that 21 year olds would receive the full rate of minimum wage, we would like this to go further.
Age Discrimination (Clause 26) Whilst we welcome the Government's inclusion of age discrimination into the bill, we strongly believe that this should include protection for under-18s against discrimination, harassment and victimisation by people who supply services (which includes goods and facilities) or perform public functions.
Young women YWCA works with experience discrimination on a regular basis. They have told us of examples of being refused entry into shops, leisure facilities and young mums being refused access onto public transport. Young women we work with feel they are discriminated against on many levels which makes them feel less equal members of society. As highlighted above, the continued acceptance of lower rates of pay for young people and benefits only compounds this.
YWCA is a member of the Young Equals campaign which recently produced Making the case report highlighting the systemic nature of age discrimination against children and young people. We would like to see the removal of the exclusion of under-18s from this protection. The Young Equals campaign has produced a separate briefing on age discrimination which is also part of the written evidence.
Public Sector Equality Duty (Clause 143) YWCA supports the introduction of a public sector duty which will mean public authorities must have due regard to eliminating discrimination, advancing equality of opportunity and fostering good relations between people who share a protected characteristic identified in the Bill and those who don't. We welcome this duty which brings together and simplifies existing duties on gender, race and disability and extends the cover to age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity, and fully covers gender-reassignment. The gender duty was a significant step forwards for equality legislation and we hope that this single duty will continue to advance gender equality and finally eliminate discrimination against young women.
However, we are concerned that schools are excluded from this public sector duty in relation to age for under-18s. Schools have an established role in challenging inequalities and they are uniquely placed to lead the public sector's drive towards advancing equality of opportunity and fostering good relations between people of all ages. Further information is available in the Young Equals briefing.
Education for pregnant girls and young mothers (Clause 79) Evidence shows that a significant proportion of young women
who have children whilst in school feel
they are treated less favourably and are discriminated against. We are therefore
disappointed that pregnancy and maternity are specifically excluded from the
provisions of the Bill to prevent discrimination, harassment or victimisation
in education in schools. A survey carried out by YWCA in 2004 (YWCA 2004C)
found that fewer than half of pregnant pupils or pupils with babies had access
to a full curriculum. It also found that four of
We understand that guidance already exists stating that pregnancy is not a reason for exclusion but young women still tell us that this has happened and that they have not always been allowed to continue their normal attendance or have been isolated.
We understand that it can be beneficial for pregnant young women or young mothers to receive specialist support or have an adapted timetable and fully support the flexibility to do this. Many young mums are enthusiastic about specialist provision and it can increase their support networks and engage them with education. We do not believe that extending protection on the grounds of pregnancy and maternity to school pupils would preclude this from happening. Equal treatment does not mean the same treatment. It means support for people to achieve the same outcomes. We strongly believe that removing this exclusion would protect pregnant young women and young mothers from being treated in a detrimental way and support them to provide better life chances for themselves and their children. With the raising of the participation age for education and training, combating social exclusion and engaging the most disadvantaged young people will be even more important.
References YWCA 2004C, Survey of English Local Education Authorities into the educational provision for pregnant teenagers and young mothers up to the age of 16, unpublished
June 2009
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