Close the Gap newsround (10)

This weeks newsround includes articles from The Scotsman, the Guardian and others. Topics include occupational segregation, gender stereotyping and equal pay.

NEWS - SCOTLAND

The Scotsman

Game plan to close gender gap in Scottish schools

NEWS - UK

The Guardian

Young women hardest hit in Mexico as unemployment continues to increase

BBC 'got it wrong on women'

Britain's boardrooms need more women, Cameron says

We need gender studies to battle inequality across the board

The Telegraph

Teenage girls: IT needs you Just 14 percent of QA apprentices last year were female

BBC News

David Cameron won't rule out women in boardrooms quotas

Sunderland Echo

Women win £30million equal pay fight

The Yorkshire Evening Post

It’s the business for women

50:50 inclusive democracy

Why the gender pay gap matters

EVENTS

Women and Work - Scottish Parliament

Tuesday 21 February, 2pm-4pm

Close the Gap will be participating in the Equal Opportunities Committee’s round-table session on Women and Work during Trade Union Week. Contact Ann Henderson at the STUC, (t) 0141 337 8100 for further information on how to register to attend.

International Women's Day - Women in Scotland 2012 - The Big Picture

Close the Gap will be speaking at Engender's Women in Scotland 2012 Conference being held on International Women's Day Wednesday 8 March in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, 10am-4.30pm

The event is an opportunity to take part in discussions around; gender budgeting, occupational segregation, welfare reform and poverty, childcare, women in the economy and many more issues. For more details about this FREE event click on the link above.

Equality in Employment: Gender, Diversity and Inclusion in the Financial Service Sector

Thursday 8 March, London 12.30 – 16.30

The Equality and Human Rights Commission in collaboration with City HR Associates and the Financial Services Authority are holding an International Women’s Day Symposium to consider some of the challenging questions around progression and compensation of women in the finance industry.

Apprenticeships and Training Conference 2012

Thursday 29 March, Edinburgh

Emma Ritch, Project Manager at Close the Gap will be speaking at the Apprenticeship and Training Conference on gender stereotyping in educaiton and training and the impact on sustainable economic growth.

The Childcare Problem

An increasing number of women are being forced to give up their jobs or reduce their hours because of the high cost of childcare, with long term effects on women’s career prospects. The average cost of full-time childcare is currently £385 a month but this rises to £729 for children under the age of two. Child tax credits are being cut while the cost of childcare increases, and those trying to buy childcare find provision patchy in both availability and quality.

Among those casting about for solutions to this seemingly intractable problem is the Social Market Foundation, which has proposed the introduction of a ‘use now, pay later’ childcare scheme. Under this National Childcare Contribution Scheme (NCCS), the government would provide upfront financial support for formal childcare, which parents would pay for later through the tax system.

NCCS is based on the student loan finance system. Parents would be able to access up to £10,000 from the government using a voucher scheme, paying back contributions once the income of the ‘main earner’ in a family hit a certain level. Parents would stop monthly repayments once they had paid back the amount in full, or after 20 years. Low-earning parents would not pay in full what they had initially received, but this underpayment by some parents would be recovered through a 3% above inflation interest rate on the amount borrowed.

The design of NCCS makes a number of assumptions. It assumes that parents do not object to expensive childcare and are happy to borrow money to pay for it. It assumes, presumably, that childcare providers will be willing or able to meet the infrastructure costs, like installing smart card facilities and administering aspects of the scheme. It assumes that the childcare sector, which has low margins and is characterised by unstable, low-paid employment, is sustainable.

Solutions such as NCCS, which tinker with the demand-side, do not address the fundamental problem. Childcare is extremely expensive from the perspective of the purchasing parents, and represents a significant allocation from family budgets. It is, however, very difficult to run a good quality childcare service funded only by what parents are willing and able to pay.

There is overwhelming evidence that more radical, less individualised solutions to the childcare conundrum are worth considering. A recent cost-benefit analysis by IPPR has shown that universal childcare for pre-school aged children pays a net return to the government of £20,050 (over four years) in terms of tax revenue minus the cost of childcare for every woman who returns to full-time employment after one year of maternity leave.

Affordable, universal childcare is associated with higher female employment rates, particularly for mothers. Increasing maternal employment maintains a woman’s link to the labour market, increases family income and also increases the tax base which, in turn, generates a positive cost-benefit return to the government. Wage equality within families even reduces other consequences of women’s inequality, like domestic abuse. Countries with higher maternal employment rates, such as Scandinavian countries, tend to have affordable and high-quality childcare provision alongside comprehensive, shared parental leave policies.

A universal childcare system might also offer the possibility of addressing the undervaluation of caring work. 99 per cent of those working in the early years and education sector are women. In 2009, the average pay for a qualified nursery nurse was £6.65 per hour, with this rising to £8.82 per hour for managers. Still seen as ‘women’s work’, the undervaluing of the role and the consequent low pay is a major contributing factor to the high turnover of staff and, in turn, undermining the supply of a high-quality service.

The challenge of how good quality childcare should be funded is unlikely to be resolved in the immediate future. Welfare reform by the UK Government has placed families’ ability to pay for childcare on an even more precarious footing. It’s vital for the economy, for women, and for children that any solution implemented in Scotland tackles the inequalities women face when trying to combine a career with parenthood, and in working within the childcare sector itself.

GUEST POST: Women in Scotland's Economy Research Centre: A WiSER approach

I am very pleased to introduce the Women in Scotland’s Economy (WiSE) Research Centre at Glasgow Caledonian University. This newly created centre aims to promote and make visible women’s contribution to Scotland’s economy through high quality research and other knowledge transfer activities. Closing the gap between men and women will improve Scotland’s economic position. However, traditional economic approaches often fail to fully recognise women’s economic contribution and their productive potential.

The WiSE Research Centre brings an alternative perspective to the analysis of women’s economic position in Scotland, with analysis and commentary based on feminist economics. Followers of the Close the Gap blog will be interested in WiSE outputs; research briefings, academic commentary and analysis across a range of issues in Scotland’s economy which will be available in a variety of formats.

Issues of equal pay and occupational segregation have long been a focus for WiSE staff who have worked closely with Close the Gap to promote the business/economic efficiency case for gender equality and to deliver ‘Economics for Equality’. We hope to continue to work with Close the Gap on these and other issues for the benefit of women in Scotland and Scotland’s economy.

To keep up to date with WiSE activities, events and research please check our website regularly or better yet, join our mailing list by emailing Alison Lockhart, Senior Research Officer with WiSE .

Emily Thomson is Co-Director of the Women in Scotland’s Economy (WiSE) Research Centre, and Lecturer in the Glasgow School for Business and Society at Glasgow Caledonian University.

Close the Gap newsround (9)

This weeks newsround includes articles from the Herald, The Guardian and others. Topics include occupational segregation, gender stereotyping and equal pay.

NEWS - SCOTLAND

Herald Scotland

MP calls for more female radio presenters on BBC

NEWS - UK

BBC News Manchester

Bury equal pay case: Council settles with dinner ladies

Financial Times

Richard Lambert on performance and pay

O'Donnell derides business approach to gender

The Guardian

Davos: if women are the future, where are they?

Hollywood women unite to break through the celluloid ceiling

Why are women stuck at 17% of top jobs?

Television 'misrepresents' young people and older women

Coast presenter Alice Roberts appointed professor of public engagement in science

The Telegraph

'BBC should be scutinised for sexism and ageism', says MP

Human Resource Magazine

Lehman sisters: is there a connection between gender and ethics?

EVENTS

International Women's Day - Women in Scotland 2012 - The Big Picture

Close the Gap will be speaking at Engender's Women in Scotland 2012 Conference being held on International Women's Day Wednesday 8 March in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, 10am-4.30pm

The event is an opportunity to take part in discussions around; gender budgeting, occupational segregation, welfare reform and poverty, childcare, women in the economy and many more issues. For more details about this FREE event click on the link above.

UK Resource Centre for Women in SET

UK Resource Centre for Women in SET are hosting workshops on Women's Enterprise in TV. There are various dates and venues in February and March.

Inspiring Women's Enterprise in TV - One day Workshop