The Gender Penalty: Close the Gap's new research on Scotland's gender pay gap

The current level of discussion around the pay gap is unprecedented as the deadline for large companies reporting their pay gap gets ever closer (just under two weeks to go, in case you wondered). At our conference in February, we launched our new research The Gender Penalty: Exploring the causes and solutions to Scotland’s gender pay gap.

The pay gap is a defining feature of Scotland’s labour market and although it’s very slowly narrowed over the longer term, progress has stalled in recent years. This is borne out as the pay gaps of well-known companies are hitting the headlines on a daily basis.

A range of studies have modelled the pay gap at a UK level, most notably the seminal work by Wendy Olsen and Sylvia Walby for the Equal Opportunities Commission. But there wasn’t any Scottish specific research on the factors driving Scotland’s pay gap. So Close the Gap commissioned University of Manchester to do an economic modelling of Scotland’s pay gap which would identify the causes, and look at how these have changed since 2004.

The research found that there are four main drivers of Scotland’s pay gap: bonus earnings, the size of company a woman works for, occupational segregation, and something called the “gender residual” which is most commonly attributed to gender discrimination in the labour market.

Perhaps most alarming is that there’s been no improvement in the causes since 2004, and the effects of most of the causes have actually worsened. Occupational segregation is seemingly an intractable problem, with no progress made. The effects of bonus earnings and company have tripled, while the effect of the gender residual has doubled, now costing women a staggering £3.15 per hour.

The new report also examines responses to the pay gap, and sets out what needs to change to advance equality for women at work. What’s clear is that existing approaches to the pay gap are failing to deliver change. Policy responses have been complicated by the devolution settlement whereby Scottish and UK Governments both hold powers for levering change. While employment and anti-discrimination law are reserved to Westminster, Holyrood has power over a wide range of policy domains that are instrinsic to closing the pay gap including early years, primary and secondary education, further and higher education, skills, economic development, employability, childcare, long-term care, the public sector equality duty and procurement.

There’s never been a cohesive, strategic approach to solving the problem which is why we’ve called for a national strategy to close Scotland’s pay gap. In its inquiry into the economic gains of closing the pay gap, the Scottish Parliament Economy, Jobs, and Fair Work Committee made the same call.

The pay gap is a structural problem which requires action from a wide range of stakeholders. We’ve therefore also made a wide range of recommendations in the report for key stakeholders including Scottish Government, the enterprise agencies, Skills Development Scotland, Education Scotland, employers and unions. The time for change is now.

Read the full report here.

Welcome to the pay gap

Close the Gap is proud to share this short animation on the causes of the gender pay gap, which we created with media co-op.

We know the gender pay gap goes far beyond the principle of equal pay for equal work, and responses to the pay gap must also take a bolder approach than simply focusing on the legal definition of equal pay. The causes of the gender pay gap include gender stereotyping, the undervaluation of women’s work, a lack of quality part-time and flexible work, exorbitant childcare costs, male-centric workplace cultures which feel exclusive to women, discrimination and more.

The gender pay gap is a structural problem, and requires a strategic, cohesive response to address its complex and inter-related causes. We are yet to see that in Scotland, or in the UK, and as a result progress on closing the pay gap has been glacial, with no substantive change in the everyday experiences of working women.

We hope this short film will help shed light on the causes of the pay gap, and encourage all stakeholders to take action. It’s up to all of us to close the gap.

Guest post: Young women and work

Written by Kirstin Gray, MSc Career Guidance and Development student at University of the West of Scotland.

We're very excited to have this guest post on our blog! Kirstin has recently completed a placement with Close the Gap, and we're really delighted to share her post on the pressures faced by young women entering the labour market, and the impact of gender stereotypes.

Young women and work

2018 is Scotland’s Year of Young People: one of its themes is Enterprise and Regeneration, celebrating young people’s role in the Scottish economy, and a second theme is Education. It also gives young people (aged 8-26) a chance to challenge the existing state of affairs, and therefore an exploration of young women’s experience in the labour market is warranted. At a time when Scotland wishes to celebrate young people it is pertinent young women’s voices are heard. My background is career guidance, more specifically labour market studies, with gender and inequalities at the forefront of my research interest. Armed with this background I write about women’s experiences in the labour market.

Sometimes you read something, and it stays with you. Sometimes it’s an intricate poem, a lyric in a song, a line in a journal or a snappy headline. A quote that has stayed with me comes from Work and Society by Strangleman and Warren, “…gender inequalities are structurally determined, not natural outcomes.” A concept I have been exposed to in my studies is whether or not we are individuated. We are not - we are socialised to act in a certain way, to conform and to maintain status quo in order that society can continue to function. From as early as the hunter-gatherers there have been gendered roles, an expectation that women and men should perform certain duties because of their sex. It is ingrained in society, and in the labour market women have been negatively impacted by this through occupational segregation, devalued work, invisible work, precarious employment and poor mental health. These are some of the issues that will be touched on in this blog.

Girls outperform boys in education, and in 2012/13 44.1% of girls achieved at least five awards at level 5 compared with 34.8% of boys. Despite this women are less likely to be in work than men, and those women who are in work are less likely to be in senior positions and more likely to be in part-time work. Occupational segregation begins in education where girls are less likely to pick STEM subjects, which are interdisciplinary subjects that underpin many top paid jobs. YWCA Scotland research discusses how women are not only discouraged, but also prevented from selecting subjects which are deemed to be “for” boys or men. This research also shows women are concerned about the impact of having children on their career, and feel they are not represented in the labour market on a senior and decision-making level.

It is often asserted that women choose jobs based on other advantages not concerning salary, such as convenience of the job. The truth is, women’s work has been routinely devalued, for example clerical, care and cleaning, and although these jobs are fundamental to society the salary for such jobs is extremely low. There is a common perception that women’s “choices” create the gender pay gap, including; taking a career break to have children, working part time and the type of work women do. The problem with this statement is that the causes that lead to the pay gap are described as free choices instead of structural constraints that have an impact on women in the labour market: discrimination, lack of flexibility, the glass ceiling, and pregnancy and maternity discrimination. Furthermore this idea assumes that women freely choose to do work in the home and care, rather than it being an expectation due to historical gender roles.

Young women’s experience of the labour market is entirely different to their male counterparts, in a labour market which is becomingly increasingly difficult to navigate. Precarious employment is filling the unemployment gap, and while it looks good for governments there is widespread in-work poverty due to low wages. Importantly, women experience a more complex and problematic situation. Recent research honed in on the emotional journeys of young women in the labour market and showed young women feeling increasingly more anxious, with self-esteem decreasing. This is despite young women outperforming young men academically.

This is where precarious employment comes into play. Precarious employment, including temporary contracts and low or zero hour contracts, is inherent in our society. It has become a norm, and a scroll through some job adverts sees the “benefits” of such modes of employment described as flexible working. This type of insecure work puts immense pressure on the employee. How do women fit in? Women are more likely to be in the industries that fall victim to precarious employment; catering, retail, care and clerical work to name a few. The socialisation of young girls influences their journey through education and choice of certain subjects. A sense of identity is interlinked with career maturity, and if that sense of self is socialised by gender roles it is no wonder that these processes repeat themselves and the pay gap remains.

Why does women’s greater academic performance lead to such dire results in employment? Society’s expectation of the role women should have in the labour market plays the most significant factor. Research from the Institute of Physics gives an insight into this: “87% of girls asked (aged 11-21) think women are judged more for their looks than ability.” The rise of 'aesthetic labour' suggests that in some areas of employment, such as retail, image has become an important factor to employers in choosing a candidate for a job. Instead of merit, therefore, it becomes who looks the best for the job. Gendered roles reinforce and amplify this.

Frequently asked questions: Women’s equality and the Gender Recognition Act

Close the Gap has joined with Engender, Scottish Women's Aid, Rape Crisis Scotland, Zero Tolerance, Equate Scotland and Women 50:50 to produce a Frequently Asked Questions on women's equality and the Gender Recognition Act.

What is the Gender Recognition Act?

The Gender Recognition Act 2004 (GRA) is the law that governs how trans people can get their gender identity legally recognised – and so have the correct gender marked on their birth certificate. The GRA is currently UK-wide legislation, but birth certificates are a devolved matter that the Scottish Parliament can legislate for.

Under the Gender Recognition Act 2004, it is possible to apply to a Gender Recognition Panel and obtain a full Gender Recognition Certificate. A person with a full Gender Recognition Certificate is recognised legally as having acquired a new gender, and their birth certificate is amended to reflect this. The process has been criticised as being too lengthy, complex, and intrusive. It also does not allow for recognition of non-binary people, or anyone under 18.

In November 2017, the Scottish Government launched a review of the Gender Recognition Act which includes proposals such as:

• Replacing requirements to provide medical evidence and to live in an acquired gender for two years when seeking legal gender recognition, with a self-declaration system;
• Reducing the age at which recognition can be obtained to 16, and considering options for under-16s; and
• Options for the legal recognition of non-binary people – people who do not identify as male or female.

The UK Government is also conducting a review of the Gender Recognition Act through a separate process.

How will the Scottish Government consultation work?

The Scottish Government consultation is open until 1st March 2018. You can respond as an individual, or on behalf of an organisation. If you respond as an individual, you can ask for your response to be treated as confidential, and it will not be published. Once the consultation has closed, responses will be analysed and the Scottish Government will publish a report. The analysis of the consultation responses could:

• Indicate the need for policy development or review
• Inform the development of a particular policy
• Help decisions to be made between alternative policy proposals
• Be used to finalise legislation before it is implemented

You can find out more information, including an FAQ about the consultation process here.

What is the position of national women’s organisations, including Close the Gap, Engender, Zero Tolerance, Scottish Women’s Aid, Rape Crisis Scotland, and Equate Scotland?

We support the Equal Recognition campaign and broadly welcome the reform of the Gender Recognition Act. The complexity, restrictions and expense of the current gender recognition process particularly discriminates against trans people who are disabled, migrant, minority ethnic, unemployed, homeless, experiencing domestic abuse, young or non-binary. Enabling trans people to smoothly change their birth certificates at the same time as they change their other identity documents is a positive step forward.

We will be responding to the detailed proposals in the consultation document, and making suggestions for implementation that avoid unintended consequences for women’s equality and rights.

How did you come to your position?

Our organisations have a long history of deliberation on the interrelationship between trans equality and rights and women’s equality and rights. Many of our organisations were involved in the ‘T in Feminist’ campaign, have worked on action research projects to identify barriers to service delivery for trans women, and have developed trans-inclusive violence against women services and specific support services targeted at LGBTI people.

Our position is based on internal dialogue within our organisations and their memberships about issues around sex and gender and women’s equality, our long experience of engaging with equality law and policy, and in service delivery at national and local level. It is also based on our many years of collaboration and discussion with Scottish Trans Alliance, and other LGBTI national organisations.

What difference will the proposed change to gender recognition make to women-only spaces and services delivered by your organisations?

None. We are not aware that any women’s organisation or group currently in our networks requires sight of a birth certificate in order to grant access to services or membership. All access to membership and services is based on self-identification. This will continue.

All violence against women organisations that receive Scottish Government funding provide trans-inclusive services. The requirement for trans inclusion plans has been in place for six years, and has not given rise to any concerns or challenges of which we are currently aware. Rather, trans women have added to our movements through their support, through volunteering, and as staff members of our organisations. In order to provide a definitive statement on this in our consultation response(s), national umbrella violence against
women organisations will be systematically gathering data on how well these plans are working at the frontline.

The social media discussion on the proposed changes to the Gender Recognition Act has included concerns that victim-survivors of sexual violence and domestic abuse may be placed at risk. Rape crisis and women’s aid services prioritise women’s safety, confidentiality, privacy, dignity, and wellbeing above all else. Over decades of practice, services have developed ways of managing any risk to individual women’s wellbeing that may arise from interacting with other service users.

All of our organisations have processes in place to respond to the small numbers of perpetrators and so-called men’s rights activists who attempt to disrupt services or women-only space, or harass or hurt service users or women participating in our events.

This discussion has thrown up some misconceptions about what it is like to access violence against women support and advocacy services, and our organisations will be thinking about ways we can share more information about how rape crisis and women’s aid does its work.

We will also look in detail at any proposals that impose legal requirements on violence against women services to change our practice. The proposals within the consultation do not make any such imposition, but we will be discussing this with Scottish Government and with regulators in Scotland.

Do you have any concerns around the proposals?

We have two key concerns at the moment, and we are interested to hear from people who have identified any others.

Evidence from The British Psychological Society to the Women and Equalities Committee of the UK Parliament has flagged its concern at the small number of men convicted of sexual offences who (in their words) “falsely claim to be transgender females” in order to secure parole, explain their offending, or get increased access to women and children once they have been released from prison. They express concern that the GRA proposals will in some way enable this small group of perpetrators if mitigating action is not taken by criminal justice agencies.

Some of our organisations will be picking up the issue of women’s safety with Scottish Trans Alliance and the Scottish Prison Service and other relevant agencies, to explore plans for ensuring women’s safety in prison and in the community.

Some public bodies we have been talking to about data collection have suggested that the existence of non-binary people means that it is either ‘offensive’ or otherwise ‘not appropriate’ to gather data on the sex of service users, employees, or other relevant groups.

This is not correct, and we will work with Scottish Trans Alliance and other LGBTI organisations to share clear information around gathering and using gender-disaggregated data. Public bodies in Scotland are currently required to do this as part of their obligations under the public sector equality duty. Gender-disaggregated data is essential to designing policy and services that meet the distinct needs of women and girls.

How will you resolve any unforeseen problems?

We have engaged with Scottish Trans Alliance since its inception, and have a strong, trusting working relationship. We are proud of our history of working together, and have confidence that we can be frank about any difficulties we have about the unintended consequence of changes to law and policy.
We are allies in the fight against men’s violence against women, and against gender stereotyping and essentialism.

Our women’s organisations and Scottish Trans Alliance are all committed to enabling dialogue and creating space for difficult conversations to take place. We know that regression on human rights and equality is happening even as we see progress in other areas. We are still near the beginning of theorising sex, gender, gender identity and how they interrelate. That those conversations are ongoing and unresolved does not affect our ambitions for trans equality and rights, or for providing services that meet the needs of trans women who have experienced sex discrimination or men’s violence.

Should your organisations have carried out an equality impact assessment on the consultation?

Equality impact assessment is a policymaking tool that public bodies in Scotland are legally required to use when they develop, review, or change policy. Scottish Government has published information about what it calls a “partial” EQIA in its consultation document. The information provided does not meet the requirements of an EQIA, in our view.

Although our organisations use a form of EQIA when we develop some services, as a process it is not relevant to policy advocacy work like consultation responses. This is because we are not iteratively developing an intervention or policy measure ourselves, but responding to the work of policymakers that sets out a menu of options.

Our organisations will, of course, comment on the impact on women and women’s equality when we respond to the proposals in the consultation.

How can I engage with the consultation as an individual?

Individuals can complete a response to the consultation here where you can also access other Scottish Government documents relating to the Gender Recognition Act.

The website http://equalrecognition.scot/ also has lots of useful information about specific issues around the Gender Recognition Act and a guide to filling out the consultation.