Blog
Equally Safe at Work Community of Practice: Harnessing the power of peer learning to improve employment practice
Last week, Close the Gap held the fourth meeting of the Equally Safe at Work Community of Practice. We had employers from across sectors in Scotland come together to discuss gender equality and violence against women (VAW) in the workplace. In attendance were colleagues from local government, NHS, the third sector, the Scottish Government and COSLA.
A vision for a childcare system that works for everyone.
Close the Gap and One Parent Family Scotland have launched a joint vision for a childcare system that centres women’s equality, prioritises positive outcomes for children, and addresses women’s and children’s poverty. It’s a set of principles for high-quality childcare provision that is flexible, accessible and affordable for all families, including those on low incomes. The principles are endorsed by a broad range of 25 civil society organisations.
What is the gender pension gap?
Retirement is often seen as a part of women’s lives that is far off in future, especially when the State Pension age (SPA) is projected to keep rising beyond 68, with these changes rumoured to be accelerated by as early as 2035. This is despite Scottish data showing that life expectancy is falling alongside similar figures for the UK, which show a decrease in life expectancy, in recent years. Healthy life expectancy figures have also seen a decline in Scotland, which impacts people’s ability to remain in the labour market. As women, on average, live longer than men, it’s especially important to consider the circumstances that will constrain women’s ability to plan for, and enjoy, their years in retirement.
Positive shifts, persistent problems: an assessment of five years of employer gender pay gap reporting
New employer guidance on taking an anti-racist approach to tackling gender inequality in the workplace.
Racism and sexism are the causes of the inequality and discrimination that racially minoritised women face in their everyday lives. It’s no different in the workplace.
Equally Safe at Work: New learning and development resources to address sexual harassment at work
High levels of sexual harassment remain consistent in the workplace, which has a detrimental impact on women, colleagues and the entire organisation. In our Equally Safe at Work employee survey in early adopter councils, three-quarters (75%) of respondents had either experienced or witnessed sexual harassment in the last 12 months and 70% didn’t report it to their employer. We know that women rarely report sexual harassment, and violence against women in general. This is because some think nothing will change, or that they won’t be believed. In some cases, women worry it will affect their career progression. As well, women have shared that they tried to report to their line manager, and received little to no support to make a formal report to HR.
Register for the online launch of Close the Gap’s new guidance on taking an anti-racist approach to tackling gender inequality at work
How to help prevent sexual harassment in the workplace?
Sexual
harassment is an endemic problem in our society. In the past decade, the global
"#MeToo" movement has helped to raise awareness of its prevalence, helping it to
become a high-profile issue.
Gender inequality means that women are being hardest hit by the cost of living crisis.
Why do we need a gendered approach when tackling rising economic inactivity?
Unemployment did not reach the unprecedented highs that were predicted during Covid-19. However, an unanticipated labour market trend emerging from the pandemic has been rising economic inactivity. Since the beginning of the crisis, there have been sharp increases in the numbers of people who are economically inactive due to retirement and ill-health, particularly among older workers.
We're hiring!
We’re looking for an enthusiastic person to work on the expansion of Equally Safe at Work, Close the Gap’s employer accreditation programme, in NHS boards, and the third sector. Committed to women’s labour market equality, you’ll be working within our small, busy team to influence improved gender-sensitive employment practice, and supporting employers to gain accreditation. You’ll also be designing shared learning opportunities, developing materials, writing reports, delivering events and building relationships with stakeholders.
Equally Safe at Work launches in NHS boards, and the third sector
Following the success of Close the Gap’s employer accreditation programme, Equally Safe at Work, with local authorities, we are pleased to be launching a new pilot of the programme with the NHS and the third sector. The evaluation of the pilot with local authorities highlighted that Equally Safe at Work was an important lever for enabling employers to take substantive action on gender equality and demonstrate leadership in violence against women.
An Unequal Burden: New briefing outlines how Covid-19 has affected women’s employment, financial security and unpaid work.
Women’s inequality has been exacerbated by the social, economic and labour market implications of the Covid-19 crisis. However, the lack of gender-sensitive, sex-disaggregated data created barriers to achieving a full understanding of women’s experiences of the pandemic. In particular, intersectional data relating to the experiences of disabled and Black and minority (BME) women in Scotland during the crisis is almost entirely lacking.
The Child Poverty Delivery Plan maintains a strong focus on work and earnings, but the need to address women’s poverty is less visible
The Scottish Government has published its updated Child Poverty Delivery Plan setting out the actions it will take to tackle child poverty across 2022 to 2026. The impact of Covid-19 and the ongoing cost of living crisis have contributed to a rising tide of poverty in Scotland, rendering the refreshed Plan more important than ever.
Expanding Equally Safe at Work: Piloting with NHS, Scottish Government and the third sector
Latest data on Scotland’s gender pay gap highlights women’s continued inequality in the labour market
The gender pay gap represents the divergent experiences women and men have not only in employment but also in education, training, care and other unpaid domestic labour. As the key indicator of women’s labour market inequality, data relating to the gender pay gap is critical to Close the Gap’s work.
Equally Safe at Work employer accreditation opens to new councils
Following the success of our Equally Safe at Work pilot with councils, Close the Gap is pleased to roll out this world-leading accreditation programme with a new cohort of councils from March 2022 to July 2023.
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