Blog
February 24: Work Your Proper Hours Day
Feb 24 is Work Your Proper Hours Day. This date is when the average worker in the UK who does unpaid overtime finishes the unpaid days they do every year and starts working for themselves.
It is estimated that over 5 million people did unpaid overtime in 2011. And with an average of 7.2 hours of unpaid overtime, the TUC estimate this is worth £29.2 billion to the UK economy. In Scotland, the number of people who do unpaid overtime has increased by 5% from 2010 to 417,000 people in 2011.
The TUC have calculated that the highest number of workers working unpaid overtime are concentrated in the public sector, where 27.8% of all employees work unpaid overtime compared to 18.6% of private sector employees. In Scotland, two-thirds of public sector workers are women and as job cuts and pay freezes continue in the public sector, it is likely that more and more women will be expected to do more for less.
The proportion of employees in their late 50s and early 60s working unpaid overtime has increased sharply in the last decade, but those aged 35-54 are still working the most hours of unpaid overtime. This is perhaps is not surprising as the majority of the workforce will fall into that age category and it coincides with the pivotal point for many individuals progressing their careers.
The TUC argue this is equivalent to approximately 1 million full-time equivalent jobs, but acknowledge that the presenteeism culture of many workplaces in the UK is part of the problem, rather than the unpaid overtime translating directly into jobs.
Presenteeism has a profound effect on women’s participation in the labour market. Workplace culture can be a barrier to women’s retention and progression within the workplace. The need to be seen to be putting in the extra hours do not fit with the family-friendly working practices many women (and men) need. This is particularly acute when we consider that the age profile of highest level of unpaid overtime coincides with the point at which many women may be thinking of starting a family, returning to work after a career/maternity break and/or are looking for a promotion that fits round their caring responsibilities.
Presenteeism in the workplace limits the choices for those who have caring responsibilities, the vast majority of whom are women. As a result women are forced to look for part-time work, often in lower valued and low paid positions or leave the labour market as they cannot afford to work due to the high costs of childcare. As women’s unemployment continues to rise there is an even greater case to ensure that the barriers to women’s participation in the workplace are addressed.
Long hours are bad for our health; cause stress; they wreck relationships; they make caring for children or dependents more difficult; and tired, burnt-out workers are bad for business and economic growth.
Work Your Proper Hours Day website has a long-hours clinic and calculator to check and map your workplace culture.
Close the Gap newsround (11)
This week's newsround includes articles on occupational segregation, gender stereotyping and equal pay.
NEWS - SCOTLAND
The Courier - Tayside and Fife
Low-paid workers win right to have backdated wages claim heard at tribunal
NEWS - UK
The Guardian
Equality: coalition is missing the point about women
Women chefs on how they chopped to the top
Women at work: edging towards equality
Can David Cameron be made to understand what women want?
Bafta awards: British women vie for writing prizes
The Independent
Women swelling the ranks of the jobless
The Telegraph
Women and young bear brunt of rise in unemployment, says think tank IPPR
Bury Times
Equal pay appeal hearing will go ahead
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.
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
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
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.
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