Blog
Lockdown on the gender pay gap
One casualty of the UK Government’s response to the coronavirus crisis is employer gender pay gap reporting. While this may not seem like a priority in the current circumstances, women’s pre-existing inequality means women are more at risk as they are the majority of frontline workers spearheading the response to the virus and are doubly impacted by increased caring responsibilities as childcare and social care provision dries up. For those women in precarious employment these additional responsibilities are even harder to accommodate due to variable hours and a lack of sick pay, increasing their insecurity in these already challenging times.
Women’s concentration in key worker roles, often hugely undervalued and underpaid, and disproportionate responsibility for unpaid care are two of the central causes of the gender pay gap. The current health crisis demonstrates clearly that we need a serious and concerted response to women’s inequality, perhaps more than ever.
While we acknowledge the heightened pressure on employers in the current crisis, the UK Government’s suspension of pay gap reporting seems like an unnecessary step, as pay gap reporting itself is unlikely to have a significant impact on employers’ ability to operate. Deprioritising women’s equality at this time ignores the gendered impact of the crisis and suggests that the UK Government does not consider gender equality to be a core part of its responsibilities. However, as the UK’s leading experts on the gender pay gap and women’s wider labour market inequality, our focus on employer action on the pay gap remains.
In 2019, we undertook a second assessment of Scottish employers’ gender pay gap reporting in order to assess compliance with and responses to the regulations, and to identify any measurable progress or change. This involved looking at a sample of 50% of Scottish employers which are required to report, examining how they have complied with both the legal requirements of the regulations themselves, and with the UK Government’s express expectation that employers use their reporting to drive action on the gender pay gap. The results show that significant problems remain.
Our analysis identified high pay gaps of up to 68% in male-dominated sectors such as sport & recreation, manufacturing, oil & gas, finance and construction and extremely high bonus gaps of up to 100% in male-dominated sectors such as construction, oil & gas and transport & logistics. Women’s under-representation in these higher-paid sectors is a key cause of the gender pay gap and it is important that more women are able to access this better-quality employment. However, these figures show that progress in this area alone does not secure women’s equality at work, as they continue to be over-represented in the lowest grades and lower-paid roles in these sectors. Those male-oriented workplace cultures and stereotypes about women’s skills and capabilities must also be addressed if we are to shift the needle on the gender pay gap.
The theory behind pay gap reporting was that, after uncovering a gender pay gap, employers would be compelled to take action to address the causes. However, our assessment found that employers are still not using their reporting to analyse, understand, and tackle the causes of their gender pay gap. Less than two in five employers had published a supporting narrative to explain the causes of their pay gap and less than a third of employers had set out a commitment to actions. Even those employers who had taken these welcome additional steps do not inspire confidence, with much of the analysis insufficient and unclear, and most actions unmeasurable. We know this is unlikely to result in effective and accountable measures to realise gender equality at work.
Our assessment also looked for examples of action taken since employers first published their gender pay gaps. This was all but absent with only 4% of employers providing evidence of steps taken. In setting out the gender pay gap reporting regulations, the UK Government clearly stated that their purpose was to encourage employers to tackle their pay gaps. Our assessment shows that this ambition continues to be unrealised.
So, what is behind this absence of progress? We can see that employers continue to lack a clear understanding of the gender pay gap and equal pay, and how these both differ and intersect. Employers continue to overstate and misconstrue the difference between the pay gap and equal pay and often ignore unequal pay as a potential cause of their gender pay gap. Many employers state that the pay gap as a “societal issue” while overlooking that employers are part of, and thus shape, society.
Throughout the assessment we saw employers use these assertions to justify their failure to identify or act on the causes of their pay gap. This persistent theme showed us that many employers appear to accept the gender pay gap as a given, a natural and immutable fact of life, and this has led to complacency and paralysis.
We know the pay gap is not inevitable, nor unchangeable. We know that employer practices on pay, flexible working, recruitment, promotion and job design, and the composition of their workforce, have a direct impact on the causes of women’s labour market inequality. This is a fact. And it is a fact that concerted action in these areas can improve outcomes for women, not just in the labour market but by advancing broader gender inequality.
We have long known that employers are extremely unlikely to act on women’s inequality at work unless they are compelled to do so. The current gender pay gap regulations are insufficient to this task: employers need more impetus to action, not less. It is crucially important that gender equality doesn’t drop off the radar at times of economic crisis, because in these times it’s women that are disproportionately affected. If we are not to see further setbacks to gender equality employers must be proactive in ensuring women’s equality and rights at work.
The COVID-19 crisis is likely to have a significant impact on the labour market and employers will have to adapt their practices if they are to emerge in a strong position. We hope that, given the increased visibility of their roles, this will include calls from the public and politicians to re-evaluate the rates of pay for those long-undervalued workers who have borne the brunt of the crisis, those key workers whose roles are only now being recognised as crucial to the functioning of our economy. We must not squander this opportunity to tackle the gender pay gap if we are to realise economic justice for women.
Coronavirus brings new focus to women’s continued workplace inequality
The impacts of COVID-19 are being felt by us all, with huge changes transpiring across our working lives and beyond. At this stage, coronavirus is not just a health crisis, but an economic crisis that will have long-term implications. The longer-term consequences will impact women’s equality by exacerbating pre-existing inequalities, particularly where our response is not well-gendered.
There are specific impacts for women as a result of their disproportionate responsibility for care; women’s concentration in low-paid work and dominance in frontline roles; women’s experience of domestic abuse; and the failure of social security to meet women’s needs.
Women comprise the majority of frontline workers, and have increased exposure to COVID-19
Most of the key worker jobs identified by the Scottish and UK Governments are female-dominated roles, including supermarket workers, nurses, carers, teachers and childcare workers. These roles are predominantly done by women, and for this reason many of these jobs are systematically undervalued in the labour market and some jobs, such as those in social care, childcare and retail, are characterised by low-pay, and poor terms and conditions.
Women may have increased exposure to COVID-19 as a result of their position in the labour market, comprising the majority of frontline workers in social care, childcare and health care. This exposure is likely to be intensified by ongoing problems around access to essential PPE and testing, which is causing additional anxiety among frontline staff. The Royal College of Nursing have raised particular concerns around access to PPE for staff working outside of a hospital environment, including care home staff and district nurses. Social care staff, the vast majority of whom are women, are not being afforded sufficient focus in the provision of protective equipment. Additionally, PPE is often poor fitting for women, as it has been designed as standard to the sizes and needs of men and any alterations involve the same PPE, but smaller. A TUC survey previously showed that 57% of women found that their PPE sometimes or significantly hampered their work. Ultimately, inappropriate PPE can impact on a woman’s work and their safety, leaving them further exposed to Coronavirus.
Precarious work, self-employment and problems with Universal Credit are likely to increase women’s in-work poverty
Women’s employment is becoming increasingly precarious, and 55% of workers on zero-hour contracts are women. Women on these types of casualised and precarious contracts face difficulties reconciling variable hours with caring responsibilities and may not have access to statutory sick pay. Now that schools and nursery facilities have closed, women on these contracts will face particular challenges in accessing paid leave to care.
Zero-hour contracts are a feature of social care work, with three-quarters of third sector providers using these types of contracts. Zero-hour contracts negatively impact predictability of shifts, regular income, household budget management, women’s in-work poverty and children’s poverty, problems which are likely to be accentuated by the ongoing crisis. Women in precarious work face additional difficulties in managing variable hours with childcare responsibilities, and a lack of employment protections will hinder women’s ability to take paid leave.
Increasing numbers of female social care workers are self-employed via online platforms or apps which provide an agency function. The rise in women’s self-employment in social care and in other sectors has coincided with a rise in low-paid self-employment and thus the delay in providing support measures for self-employed people may push women into poverty, including many women who are working in the gig economy.
There is no gender-disaggregated data on the UK Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme which intends to cover 80% of staff costs of PAYE-registered employers who cannot meet staffing costs. However, there are complications around the definition of ‘employee’, with no coverage for gig economy workers. As nearly 75% of women in the gig economy earned less than the taxable threshold, any loss of earnings is likely to push women into poverty.
The Women’s Budget Group note that women hold 70% of jobs that are not entitled to Statutory Sick Pay. Even where women are entitled to sick pay, the rate of pay is extremely low and insufficient. This puts women at even greater risk of poverty. As mothers earnings are a key factor in child poverty, this is likely to have long-term impacts on child poverty rates.
Social isolation policies increase women’s vulnerability to domestic abuse
One in five women in Scotland experience domestic abuse in their lifetime. With reports from China revealing that incidents of domestic abuse increased following the outbreak of the virus, particularly in lockdown, there is a risk that under self-isolation, perpetrators will further restrict their partners’ freedoms and threaten their safety. Financial dependence and poverty are both primary risk factors that diminish women’s and children’s resilience when experiencing domestic abuse and can prevent women from leaving an abusive partner. Increasing rates of poverty as a result of job losses, low rates of sick pay and unpaid leave, could increase women’s economic dependence and vulnerability to domestic abuse.
Women are likely to face additional childcare responsibilities
In line with existing patterns of care, women are likely to assume the burden of childcare responsibilities during this crisis, with potential impacts on women’s earnings, poverty and career prospects. Gendered assumptions around childcare responsibilities and the earnings gap between women and men mean that a higher proportion of women will have to take unpaid leave to care for children while schools and nurseries are closed and, where this is not possible, women may leave work altogether. Indeed, women are twice as likely to give up paid work in order to care. Women have reported having to use annual leave, sick leave and unpaid leave in order to care. This places women at greater risk of poverty, and also impacts their future ability to do childcare while in paid work.
Also, as women account for the majority of frontline workers, some of these workers may be forced to leave work or reduce their working hours due to the schools closing, which could result in services becoming even more stretched as women try to balance paid and unpaid care.
Lone parents, 90% of whom are women will be particularly impacted by school closures. Additional caring responsibilities will make it even more difficult for lone parents to either work from home or to find work, particularly when they will not have access to informal networks of family and friends to assist with care because of social distancing measures.
The lack of flexibility from employers, and access to unpaid leave, may force women into accessing the social security system, primarily Universal Credit, which is not designed to promote gender equality, or meet women’s needs. In particular, the single household payment will increase women’s economic dependence, and places increased risk on women experiencing domestic abuse.
Inflexible
workplace cultures disproportionately impact women
Less than one in ten of those in the
bottom half of earners say they can work from home. As women comprise the majority of
low-paid workers, this makes it harder for them to protect their incomes in the
face of social distancing measures. Women in the most at-risk sectors and
occupations also have less to fall back on, being less likely to have savings,
access to occupational pensions and being more likely to live in poverty.
The Resolution Foundation found that only 3% of employees in sales and customer service occupations and 19% of those in administrative and secretarial roles are able to work from home. This is compared to 34% of managers and senior officials. This has a profoundly gendered impact as women account for only 39% of managers, directors and senior officials in Scotland, but 77% of those employed in administrative and secretarial occupations and 66% of those in sales and customer service occupations.
As women are disproportionately responsible for care for children, sick people, older people and disabled people, the lack of quality flexible working makes it difficult for them to balance work with family life. However, the changes to working patterns necessitated by this ongoing crisis have highlighted that many more roles could have been done flexibly all along. However, it is not pre-determined that this new-found flexibility and changes to workplace cultures will be maintained once this crisis is resolved.
Our overriding concern is that, during periods of crisis, the Scottish Government’s focus on gender equality and the gender pay gap may slip. This, coupled with women’s under-representation in leadership roles, may lead to decision-making which further entrenches women’s inequality. Engender have highlighted that while old problems don’t go away when new ones come along, hasty responses to new problems can further entrench injustices and inequalities.
For example, the UK Government have made the decision to suspend employer gender pay gap reporting this year. This is likely to lead to further inaction on the causes of the gender pay gap by employers, and will ultimately compound women’s inequality in the labour market.
This global crisis has highlighted in exceptionally stark terms that increasing precarity in the labour market, diminishing worker’s rights, and social security changes have far-reaching implications. Women will bear the brunt of the negative consequences, whether as a result of the type of job they do, their access to unpaid leave, their additional caring responsibilities, their experiences of poverty and their increased vulnerability to domestic abuse. This crisis has once more called into question the systemic undervaluation of ‘women’s work’, such as cleaning and caring. The women doing these jobs, for low-pay and often in poor conditions, are now on the frontline in efforts to control this virus. The COVID-19 crisis demonstrates the urgent need to properly value “women’s work” in the health service and in social care, reprioritise social care services and make changes to ensure its proper funding in future, including increasing wages and improved terms and conditions for the workforce.
Overall, it’s vitally important that the responses to both the health and economic crises are gendered, actively considering the differing experiences of women and men across the development, design and delivery of policies and programmes. Otherwise, one of the key long-term impacts of COVID-19 will be to further cement gender inequality.
Close the Gap research finds that fixed term contracts are amplifying the inequalities and disadvantage that women face in the tech industry
At Close the Gap, we’ve started exploring how automation and the ‘fourth industrial revolution’ will drive changes in women’s experiences of work. To date, despite automation being something of a hot topic, little attention has been afforded to the impact on women’s employment specifically.
One of the expected impacts of automation is a growth in STEM roles. Women are currently under-represented in STEM and it is therefore likely that men will disproportionately benefit from future job creation, thus cementing women’s stark under-representation in the sector. There are also patterns of occupation segregation within tech sub-sectors with a dearth of women in AI and in its subsets of machine learning and deep learning, which has clear implications for the development of data-driven technologies.
As a key driver of the gender pay gap, occupational segregation is a core focus for Close the Gap but improving women’s representation within the tech sector is particularly important in the context of automation and potential changes in the broader labour market. As part of our wider work on automation, it is therefore necessary to explore the barriers to women’s participation and progression into tech roles.
Data from ONS highlights that in Scotland women account for just 16.9% of IT and telecommunications professionals which includes roles in programming, software development, web design and development, business analysis, and systems design. A similar proportion of women (18.0%) comprise IT technicians in Scotland.[1] UK-wide research by the PwC in 2017 found that only 5% of those in tech leadership roles are women.
Equate Scotland, Scotland’s national organisation working on women in STEM, does a range of work with women and employers in the tech sector to challenge the barriers that exist. There has also been a myriad of short-term, supply-side initiatives, predominantly in education settings, to address the under-representation of women in the sector, including coding clubs for girls, school-based activity to encourage more girls to take STEM-related subjects and outreach work such as tech workplace visits. However, we haven’t yet seen a strategic policy response to the persistent dearth of women in tech.
Research by Close the Gap with women working in the tech industry in Scotland [2] highlights that insecure working practices are likely to pose an additional barrier to women entering and progressing in the industry. This new data gleans useful insight into some of the changes that are required to job design if employers are to challenge the current patterns of occupational segregation.
Women’s employment in general is increasingly precarious, with women more likely to be in low-paid work, and on temporary and zero hour contracts. This new research highlights that this rising insecurity may be an issue for some women in the tech sector. The key findings include:
- Almost half (47%) of respondents had been on a fixed term contract in the tech sector and 45% viewed fixed term contracts as a common feature of their experience in the sector.
- 46% of respondents felt that fixed term contracts amplified the inequalities and disadvantage that women face in the tech industry.
- Half (50%) of respondents who had been on a fixed-term contract had experienced involuntary gaps in employment.
- Fixed term contracts were seen as having an adverse effect on the ability of respondents to plan for the future (70%), on their financial situation (53%) and their mental health (40%).
The majority of respondents viewed fixed term contracts as being both a positive and a negative (61%). However, only 9% saw fixed term contracts as being a positive feature of the tech industry, while more than a quarter (27%) believed such contracts to be a negative feature.
Some of the positive comments around fixed term contracts were that they can provide flexibility and can support a return to work after maternity leave or a career break. However, that fixed term contracts are seen as providing relative flexibility may also be reflective of the lack of other flexible and part-time working opportunities in the tech sector. Currently, just 6% of information technology roles are advertised on a flexible basis making it difficult for women in tech to balance earning with caring. A lack of quality part-time and flexible work in the labour market is a key contributing factor to women’s skills-related underemployment, occupational segregation and the gender pay gap. Given the technological infrastructure available in the sector, and the emphasis placed on agile working, the sector should be leading the way in flexible working practices.
Certainly, the tech sector remains characterised by horizontal and vertical occupational segregation. There are further differences in the types of work women and men do, with women more likely to be in project management, web design or technician jobs, while men are more likely to be programmers and engineers.
While 44% of respondents in programming and 51% of those in software development have been on a fixed term contract, this figure rises to 100% for those working in online education and to 70% for those in digital media. While sub-sectors use fixed term contracts to varying degrees, it appears that fixed term contracts are used to a lesser extent in those sub-sectors which are particularly male-dominated. Those roles where women are under-represented are the jobs which attract higher pay and more secure contracts.
Occupational segregation is reinforced by the prevailing workplace culture in the tech sector. Un-transparent and biased recruitment practice, and a lack of access to informal networks continue to prevent women from entering and progressing in the industry. Research published by ScotlandIS, the trade body for the digital technologies industry, also identified evidence of sexist workplace cultures in which women report feeling undervalued, being excluded from discussions and discouraged from pursuing more technical projects, being talked over at meetings, and being asked to do lower status admin tasks that are not related to their role.
Fixed term contracts were seen as having an adverse effect on key aspects of employment such as pay, progression and pensions, potentially exacerbating women’s existing inequality. Of those who were currently, or had previously been, on a fixed term contract half (50%) had experienced involuntary gaps between successive fixed term contracts which can have longer term impacts on women’s career progression, lifetime earnings and likelihood of experiencing poverty.
While a majority (60%) of respondents agreed that that they had taken a job or worked on a project below their skill level because of being unable to find appropriate work, this rose to more than three-quarters (78%) of respondents who had been on a fixed term contract. These insecure working practices are likely to be contributing to women’s higher rates of underemployment and the under-utilisation of women’s skills, which contributes to skill shortages and is a drag on economic growth.
In terms of the effects on broader life factors, fixed term contracts were seen as impacting the ability to plan for the future (70%), the respondent’s financial situation (53%) and their mental health (40%). A lack of affordable, flexible and accessible childcare is one key reason for women’s systemic inequality in the labour market, and respondents noted the additional difficulties of accessing childcare while on a fixed-term contract.
The research found that almost half (46%) of respondents felt that fixed term contracts amplified the inequalities and disadvantage that women face in the tech industry. However, among participants who had experience of fixed term contracts, this figure rises to 58%. In addition to the plethora of barriers facing women upon entering and progressing within tech, such as gender stereotyping and male-oriented workplace cultures, these results highlight that fixed term contracts may be an additional barrier.
STEM is both a key focus of Scotland’s Economic Strategy, and the Scottish Government Labour Market Strategy. However, these findings highlight that it is necessary to take a broader approach to efforts to address women’s under-representation, including tackling toxic workplace cultures and the quality and security of the jobs in tech that are more likely to be done by women. Addressing demand-side barriers to women entering and progressing within STEM is particularly pertinent given existing evidence on the potential impact of automation. Women workers are concentrated at the extreme ends of the automation spectrum, with women over-represented in jobs that are at the highest risk of automation, and under-represented in STEM where job growth is likely to result.
It is vitally important, therefore, that Scotland’s response to automation and the changing labour market is gendered, thus ensuring new technologies do not cement, or indeed, worsen existing gender inequalities. AI may accelerate digital disruption in the jobs market and pre-existing research and analysis has shown that this disruption is expected to have a gendered impact. As part of our new Women’s Future Skills project, this year Close the Gap will be bringing a focus to women’s skills and automation, looking at not only women in STEM, but also how technological change affects women’s employment in the wider labour market. Crucially, we’ll be looking at how gender competent policymaking can ensure that technological change doesn’t entrench women’s labour market inequality in Scotland.
Overall, this new data offers further evidence of the importance of fair and flexible work to women’s labour market equality. reviewing the design of jobs in tech, and developing gender-sensitive employment practice for example through offering flexible working at all levels, can enable more women to enter and progress within the sector, with benefits not just for individual women and their employers, but also for Scotland’s economy.
[1]
Annual Population Survey (June 18-June 19) Regional employment by occupation
[2] The primary research, in the form of an online survey, was undertaken by Close the Gap over the course of 2018. The online survey comprised 11 close-ended questions, 7 demographic questions and 1 open-ended question. There were 92 participants who were sourced through social media, networks of women working in the tech industry in Scotland and key stakeholders working with women in tech.
New legislation puts gender equality at the heart of the Scottish National Investment Bank
Facilitating changes in policy can be a slow process, and it’s often very difficult to measure your impact and success. So, when your advocacy has a clear and tangible impact, we don’t think it should pass without note!
Over the past few months, Close the Gap has been working closely with Engender to promote the importance of building gender equality into the design of the Scottish National Investment Bank (SNIB).
Traditionally, economic development agencies have not incorporated women’s specific needs and have not prioritised women’s equality. Consequently, the gender pay gap remains at 13%, and if numbers of women-led businesses in Scotland increased to equal those of men, it would lead to a 5% increase in GDP, equivalent to £7.6bn. We thought the SNIB was a chance to do things differently.
Earlier this week, the legislation to create the Bank was passed by the Scottish Parliament. Importantly, and very excitingly, Close the Gap and Engender’s six key asks are contained within that piece of legislation. We achieved:
- An additional ancillary object relating to equality and non-discrimination;
- The Bank’s vision statement, which had been articulated in the Implementation Plan, is now on the face of the Bill thus giving permanency to the more ambitious and transformational aspects of the Bank;
- The mission setting process has been refined, meaning that Ministers will have to consider how missions will further equality;
- The Bank is required to publish and review a gender equality strategy;
- The Bank must gather intersectional gender disaggregated data on its investments, programmes and services, and report on its progress against the Gender Equality Strategy; and
- The Bank is required to carry out a regular equal pay review.
That the Bill was changed to include all of these amendments is a big success and will have positive impact on women’s experiences of working within the Bank, the Bank’s gender pay gap, and women’s wider social and economic equality in Scotland.
That the Bank will be required to carry out a regular equal pay review is a really positive development for the financial services as a whole, a sector that has been characterised by unequal pay and large gender pay gaps. Close the Gap research into employer reactions to the pay gap uncovered employer complacency, with less than a third undertaking an equal pay review or having any plans to do one in the future. The Bank will not be able to be complacent about potential discrimination in its pay systems.
How did we get to this point?
Our work on the Bank started in November 2017, when Close the Gap joined together with Engender, the Scottish Women’s Budget Group and Women’s Enterprise Scotland to produce seven principles for a gender-competent Scottish National Investment Bank.
This has been a multi-pronged approach to advocacy that’s seen us write numerous briefings, respond to three formal Government consultations, meet opposition MSPs, Cabinet Secretaries, and work with the Bill team. We had the support of Jackie Baillie MSP, who lodged our amendments and spoke eloquently about the need for gender equality to be at the heart of the Bill in committee sessions and in the chamber.
Before the Bill was even introduced, in line with the recommendation contained within Scotland’s gender pay gap action plan, A Fairer Scotland for Women, we were working with Government officials on the equality impact assessment. At stage one, we provided briefings to MSPs which outlined our ambitions for the Bill. We also tried to build alliances across the third sector, working with SCVO and Social Enterprise Scotland to give a stronger voice to our gender equality messages.
At stage two, Jackie Baillie brought amendments to Bill at the Economy, Energy and Fair Work Committee. We made some good progress against our objectives at this stage with changes to the mission setting process agreed, the vision being added to the Bill along with an equality and non-discrimination objective, albeit with compromise wording.
Crucially, we also achieved verbal commitments for the Cabinet Secretary to work with us ahead of stage three to discuss the opportunities for further amendments. This meant more briefings and meetings ahead of stage 3, working with various stakeholders to draft robust amendments pertaining to the gender equality strategy and equal pay reviews. This was difficult because there was not a precedent for some of our ambitions in pre-existing UK legislation. For example, lawyers had to establish wording for intersectional data.
On Tuesday, our remaining amendments were agreed in the chamber at stage three. Encouragingly, we were pleased to see that all parties supported integrating women’s equality into SNIB, with three of the amendments passing without a vote.
Accountability on gender equality has been built into the Bank. Along with Parliamentarians, Close the Gap and Engender will continue to scrutinise the work of the Bank, ensuring that they bring forward an ambitious and robust gender equality strategy. The intersectional gender-disaggregated data which will be gathered by the Bank will also provide valuable insight into the experiences of different groups of women in accessing finance and working within financial institutions.
This piece of legislation also opens other doors for us in that it sets an important precedent. In future legislative processes, we can ask ‘if a gender equality strategy works in the context of the SNIB Act, why not here?’. If the Bank can carry out regular equal pay reviews, why can’t the other economic development agencies? With these asks in mind, keep an eye out for our forthcoming Gender Pay Gap manifesto ahead of the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.
Policy change can be slow and long-term, so we were delighted to see the Bill pass this week. Now we are looking forward to working with the Bank to realise the possibilities that have been established with the passing of this legislation.
The detrimental impact domestic abuse has on women’s employment
The 25th of November marks the first day of the 16 Days of Activism for the elimination of violence against women and girls, an international campaign dedicated to raising awareness that violence against women is an enduring social problem.
This year as part of the 16 days of activism, we wanted to share an experience from a victim-survivor of domestic abuse, Kate, to highlight the impact it had on her life and experience at work. As a result of domestic abuse, and despite her employer having a domestic abuse policy in place, Kate was forced to move from a senior, full-time, permanent job to a lower-paid, part-time, temporary role with a different employer. She had to trade her professional status, income, job security, current and future earnings and pension in order to feel safe at work.
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