The Living Wage is key if we are to tackle women’s in-work poverty

Living Wage Week is an opportunity to recognise the importance of the Living Wage in tackling women’s poverty and realising fair work for women. Women account for the majority of low-paid workers in Scotland, and two-thirds of workers being paid less than the Living Wage are women. Low pay is a critical factor in the gender pay gap and also reflects the continued undervaluation of “women’s work” in sectors such as social care and childcare.

Women are more likely than men to have caring responsibilities and therefore must find work that allows them to balance earning with caring. This sees women concentrated in part-time work which contributes to women’s higher rates of in-work poverty as most part-time work is found in the lowest paid jobs and sectors. Part-time jobs are more than three times as likely to pay below the Living Wage than full-time roles and research from Living Wage Scotland found that women in part-time work stand to benefit the most from Living Wage accreditation.

This year, Living Wage Week is more important than ever. Evidence highlights that low-paid women have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 job disruption. Low-paid women are more likely to work in a shutdown sector, are less likely to be able to work from home, and are more likely to lose their job over the course of the crisis. For women earning less than the Living Wage, receiving only 80% of their usual salary through the Job Retention Scheme is likely to push them into further and deeper poverty.

Many of the sectors where women are concentrated that have been particularly impacted by shut downs and physical distancing measures, such as retail and hospitality, are notoriously low paid and characterised by job insecurity. For example, four in ten of those working in retail and wholesale are paid less than the real Living Wage and 80% of people working in hospitality reported that they were already struggling with their finances before going into lockdown. Women in these low-paid, high-risk sectors were already more likely to be experiencing in-work poverty and are therefore less likely to have savings to fall back on.

In addition, the majority of the key worker jobs identified by the Scottish and UK Governments are undervalued female-dominated occupations including nurses, carers, early learning and childcare workers and supermarket workers. These roles are predominantly done by women, and for this reason many of these jobs are systematically undervalued in the labour market. Research by the Women’s Budget Group’s found that women account for 98% of the workers in high exposure jobs earning ‘poverty wages’.

Women who were already struggling are now under enormous financial pressure, being pushed into further and deeper poverty. Ultimately, without specific interventions to promote women’s equality and a gendered response to the crisis, COVID-19 will exacerbate the gendered nature of poverty in Scotland.

Last week, in response to the impact of COVID-19 on young people’s employment prospects, the Scottish Government launched the Young Person’s Guarantee. Close the Gap has advocated that gender is integrated into the Guarantee, that the barriers young women face in entering the labour market are recognised, and that occupational segregation is proactively challenged. We’ve therefore welcomed the commitment from the Scottish Government that the design of the programme will ensure all groups of young people will benefit from the Guarantee. While employers engaged in the scheme must commit to the payment of the Living Wage over a set period of time, there is no obligation that employers pay young people at this rate from the outset. As the payment of the Living Wage is critical to tackling women’s poverty, particularly for young mothers, it is vital that the Government’s ambitions around the Living Wage are realised by employers engaged in the Guarantee.

The Scottish Government have acknowledged the inextricable links between gender and poverty, and women’s poverty and child poverty in a number of key policy documents including Scotland's gender pay gap action plan, and the child poverty delivery plan. These plans are clear that tackling the gender pay gap is essential to overcoming women’s higher rates of in-work poverty, and child poverty in Scotland. In particular, the Child Poverty Delivery Planhas a focus on engaging with sectors such as tourism, retail and hospitality where women’s low pay is a concern. In outlining how these sectors have a critical role to play in tackling child poverty, the plan establishes that the payment of the Living Wage in female-dominated sectors is vital to lifting women and their children out of poverty.

In response to COVID-19, achieving fair work for women by building a labour market and economy that works for women must be core to economic recovery policymaking. Of course, while the payment of the Living Wage in female-dominated jobs and sectors is an important starting point, this also has to be accompanied by a more structural response to the continued economic undervaluation of work done by women.

Prior to the crisis, women were more likely to be experiencing in-work poverty. This trend will only be worsened by the labour market and economic implications of COVID-19. This makes it even more vital that economic recovery policymaking and action to address child poverty prioritises substantive action on women’s low pay. The Living Wage ultimately remains key to tackling women’s in-work poverty.

We're hiring!

Communications and Administration Assistant

Close the Gap is recruiting for the role of Communications and Administration Assistant. The successful applicant will be responsible for co-ordinating Close the Gap social media channels and websites, supporting wider communications work and providing administrative support.

We’re looking for an enthusiastic person with professional social media experience and strong communication skills to contribute to the delivery of Close the Gap’s work. Committed to women’s labour market equality, you’ll provide administrative support, contributing to the effective running of the organisation. You’ll also be working within our small, busy team to assist with the development of communications, events and publications.

Hours: 28 hours per week
Salary: £17,138 (FTE £21,423)
Pension: 10% employer contribution
Location: 166 Buchanan Street, Glasgow, G1 2LW (homeworking while Covid-19 lockdown measures are in place)

Responsible to: Policy Manager

The post is fixed term, funded until 30 September 2021, with potential extension depending on funding.

Close the Gap values diversity in our workforce, and encourage applications from all sectors of the community. Flexible working options are available for this role.

Read the job description, person specification and other application information.

How to apply

Electronic applications must be submitted using our online application form which you can find on our website at closethegap.org.uk/jobs. If you are unable to use an online application process please contact us at info@closethegap.org.uk

The deadline for applications is 12pm Monday 7 December 2020.

You will be notified by Tuesday 22 December 2020 if you have been selected for interview.

It is anticipated that the interviews will take place remotely during the week commencing Monday 11 January 2021.

New guidance for local government on supporting women at work during Covid-19

Covid-19 has had a drastic impact on women’s experience of employment. The majority of key workers are women, working in often economically undervalued and lower paid female-dominated jobs. In local authorities this includes carers, cleaners, catering workers and early learning and children workers. Many have had to manage the immense pressures of providing essential services during the pandemic while also trying to care for children and other family members.

Without mitigating action Covid-19 will have long term consequences for women’s employment which exacerbates women’s inequality at work. It’s critical for employers to recognise the disproportionate impact Covid-19 has had on women, especially different groups of women. For example, BME women, single parents, and younger women have been particularly affected as they are more likely to work in a sector affected by job disruption. An intersectional approach to workforce planning is necessary to ensure the distinct experiences of different groups of women are visible.

Employers must act to support women workers

As organisations adapt to new ways of working, it’s essential that women’s experience of employment and Covid-19 is used to inform planning for the new normal. There’s a considerable risk that progress on women’s equality at work will be rolled back. Now is the time for employers to demonstrate their commitment to gender equality. Not only is it necessary to support women workers, but there’s clear evidence that gender equality is a catalyst for growth and recovery.

We developed guidance for councils who are participating in Equally Safe at Work on best practice for ensuring women’s inequality isn’t further exacerbated by Covid-19. The guidance provides information and actions for councils on:

• data collection;
• caring responsibilities;
• flexible working;
• homeworking;
• health and safety;
• undervaluation;
• pregnancy and maternity; and
• violence against women.

Covid-19 has magnified the gendered barriers in the workplace. Our new guidance will enable employers to better support women returning to work or continuing to work from home safely. It also supports employers to review data gathering to make sure they’re capturing women’s different experiences during Covid-19, and highlights where changes need to be made to employment practice to ensure women’s equality and safety.

You can read the guidance here.

Challenge Poverty Week: What COVID-19 means for young women’s in-work poverty

One of the themes of this year’s Challenge Poverty Week is work and jobs, with the key message that tackling poverty requires investment in decent work. This is particularly important for women, as women’s experience of the labour market is directly linked to their higher rates of poverty. This means women’s concentration in low-paid, undervalued work is a key cause of women’s increased likelihood of experiencing in-work and persistent poverty.

This year, these issues are more pertinent than ever with COVID-19 job disruption having a disproportionate impact on low-paid women, Black and minority ethnic women and young women’s employment. This is particularly significant as these groups of women were already more likely to be experiencing in-work poverty prior to the crisis. COVID-19 has therefore placed these women, and their children, at even greater risk of poverty, adding to a growing child poverty crisis.

Evidence from previous economic crises also indicates that economic downturns tend to have particularly detrimental effects on younger workers. Certainly, the economic and labour market consequences of COVID-19 have had a disproportionate impact on young women’s employment and financial wellbeing, with these trends only likely to worsen over the course of the crisis.

Close the Gap’s Disproportionate Disruption analysis highlights that, because of occupational segregation, young women are more likely to work in a shutdown sector such as hospitality and retail; younger women are at particular risk of furlough; women in low-paid jobs will be particularly affected by job disruption, placing them at greater risk of poverty; and, as per previous recessions, younger women are more likely to lose their job.

Data shows that young women are more likely to have been furloughed, with 65% of female employees aged 17 being furloughed. Women account for two-thirds of workers earning less than the living wage and receiving only 80% of their usual salary through the Job Retention Scheme could push these women into poverty. The high rate of furlough among young women also puts them at greater risk of redundancy when the Job Retention Scheme comes to an end this month. Indeed, a quarter of pubs and restaurants have said they will not survive the winter.

The risk of redundancy is heightened by the limitations of the Job Support Scheme which is less generous than the previous scheme and also stipulates that jobs have to be ‘viable’. While viability in this context is yet to be defined by the UK Government, this will likely have implications for jobs in businesses and sectors that remain shutdown, or most impacted by social distancing. Close the Gap is also concerned that part-time workers, of whom women account for the majority, will be disproportionately negatively impacted by the new scheme. Retaining two part-time workers is ultimately more costly than retaining one full-time worker on the scheme. The Job Support Scheme arguably disincentivises employers paying low-paid workers in low-skilled jobs for hours they aren’t working. This could lead to moreredundancies among low-paid workers, particularly as recruitment and training costs are lower in the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic, including retail and hospitality.

Women, particularly lone parents, have also been disproportionately affected by the need for more unpaid care, impacting their ability to do paid work. Women in the gig economy have been ineligible for either of the UK Government’s financial support schemes and women in casualised and precarious work face difficulties reconciling variable hours with caring responsibilities. As a consequence, women are leaving the labour market in order to care, or because they feel unsafe, with obvious implications for women’s earnings. In the longer-term, being out of work has scarring effect for women’s financial stability and career prospects.

This is the exacerbation of an existing trend. Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, young women were concentrated in low-paid, precarious work and were already more likely to be experiencing poverty. Women who were already struggling are now under enormous financial pressure with COVID-19 creating a perfect storm for a rising tide of poverty among young women.

Many of the sectors where young women are concentrated, such as retail and hospitality, which are those which have been affected by shut downs and physical distancing measures, are notoriously low paid and characterised by job insecurity. For example, four in ten of those working in retail and wholesale are paid less than the real Living Wage and 80% of people working in hospitality reported that they were already struggling with their finances before going into lockdown. Young women in these low-paid, high-risk sectors were already more likely to be experiencing in-work poverty and are therefore less likely to have savings to fall back on. For women who have had their hours reduced, the loss of earnings will have a profound impact on their financial security.

The automation of work in retail and hospitality jobs is already evident, and as these sectors are less likely to bounce back following the end of the crisis, the impacts for young women workers in these sectors will be long-lasting.

Young women need targeted support to enable them to re-enter the labour market and to secure good quality, sustainable employment. However, despite the well-evidenced impacts of COVID-19 on young women’s employment, we continue to see gender-blind response measures that further entrench young women’s poverty.

One of the policy asks for Challenge Poverty Week relates to the scope of the Scottish Young Person’s Guarantee. Certainly, the design of the guarantee is vitally important in determining if the scheme will benefit both young women and young men. Without a gendered approach, which recognises the barriers young women face in the labour market, the Scottish Young Person’s Guarantee will entrench occupational segregation, exacerbate women’s poverty and widen the gender pay gap.

Evidence highlights that generic employability and skills programmes reinforce women’s labour market inequality. The Young Person’s Guarantee must therefore challenge occupational segregation by design so as not to funnel young women into low-paid, female-dominated work which will merely reinforce their higher rates of poverty. The payment of the real living wage for all participants is also critical to addressing women’s higher rates of in-work poverty, and tackling the disproportionate risk of poverty among young mothers.

Flexibility, including offering jobs on a part-time basis, is vitally important to enable women with caring responsibilities to access the scheme. Young mothers are a priority group within the Scottish Government’s Economic Implementation Plan and identified as being at particular risk of poverty in the Government’s Child Poverty Delivery Plan. The Delivery Plan notes that young women with caring responsibilities face a range of barriers to accessing quality employment; to staying in work; and progressing within employment, leading to their concentration in low-paid jobs and sectors. Unless the job guarantee actively challenges occupational segregation by design and embeds flexibility within the scheme, it is likely that the guarantee will reinforce young women with caring responsibilities concentration in low-paid jobs and sectors, potentially trapping women and their children in poverty.

In addition to the substantial impact on young women’s employment and career prospects, recent evidence has also highlighted that young women are bearing the brunt of the UK’s second wave of coronavirus infections. Analysis of hospital records suggest that younger women are now more exposed to the virus, with a substantial rise in the number of women aged 20-40 admitted for serious coronavirus infections since August. This rise is driven by younger women being more likely to be in jobs that leave them vulnerable to infection, including work in pubs, cafes, shops, and the care sector.

Addressing the inequalities women face at work must be a core aim of economic recovery measures, with a particular focus on young women. Recovery must focus on transformational change to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 and advance women’s equality.

A key message of Challenge Poverty Week is that we can work together to redesign our economy so that it works for everyone. As highlighted in Gender and Economic Recovery, jointly published by Close the Gap and Engender, new approaches to our economy are essential if we are to tackle women’s poverty and persistent inequality in the labour market. Putting care and solidarity at the heart of our economy can build an economy that works for women, as well as men, and will create better jobs, better decision-making and a more adequate standard of living for us all.