August's News Roundup

It's that time of the month again; time to reflect on where women are in the labour market through the medium of the media. One particular story had us all frustrated - the obligatory furore over two reports published on the gender pay gap. Headlines declared 'Scotland's pay gap worst in UK!' (it's not) and 'Pay gap all down to having children!' (wrong again), reducing the complex issue of women's labour market inequality to tomorrow's chip paper. It's great to see the issues faced by women in the workforce receiving more coverage in the media, but this kind of inaccurate and sensationalised reporting just provides fodder for those naysayers who like to insist the pay gap isn't a thing. Women's labour market inequality is complex and entrenched, and worthy of more than a bi-annual write-up. We must change the discussion.

The gender pay gap: behind the headlines

New guidance for public sector employers on gender and the public sector equality duty

FREE training for public authorities on the public sector equality duty

This week Close the Gap is launching new guidance for public authorities on the public sector equality duty, as it relates to gender and employment. This guidance will cover fundamental principles such as mainstreaming, impact assessment, and the process of data gathering, analysis and use, alongside equal pay and occupational segregation.

July's News Roundup

The end of the month sneaked up on us in July; like an end-of-semester pop quiz on feminist economics, it was suddenly upon us and we were entirely unprepared (only kidding, we're *always* prepared for that kind of pop quiz). So, even though it's August already, we have pulled together all of the most interesting news and views of the last month for your perusal. Just in time for that Monday afternoon biscuit break you were hankering for. We'd recommend a Nice biscuit (remember those?). Go on.

June's News Roundup

You'll have to wait until tomorrow for the actual weekend, but you can get that Friday feeling now with our women and work news roundup for June. Extra added bonus for all those suffering newsfeed fatigue - this post contains 0% Brexit. but we can't promise it won't inspire consternation for other reasons. Choice topics include the insidious impact of gender stereotyping on girls, and advice being given to employers to allow their employees to work flexibly so they can watch the football (who knew those trying to balance work and caring responsibilities had their priorities so wrong?). No need to break out the wildfire yet, as there are *some* things to be cheerful about, with HE pay rises to tackle the professorial gender pay gap, and Police Scotland introducing the hijab to their uniform. Refill your favourite slogan-emblazoned mug and have a read.

Events: Scotland & UK

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May's news roundup

There's a lot to talk about in this month's news roundup. We've had gendered expectations around clothing, from the playground to the workplace; concerns around the lack of progress towards gender diversity in the boardroom, the police force, and government; and the latest ONS data has revealed the value of unpaid work in the UK economy (overwhelmingly done by women) to be a staggering £1trillion! We've pulled together all of this month's stories relating to women and employment just in time for your Tuesday teabreak.

Everything you ever wanted to know about gender budgeting but were afraid to ask

New Working Paper on Scotland's gender pay gap

Close the Gap has recently published its most recent working paper on gender pay gap statistics with a specific analysis of Scotland’s gender pay gap.

April's news roundup

It has been a busy month in the land of women and work, with stories focussing on the early presence and impact of gender stereotyping in children and young people's lives, discrimination in employment contracts and hiring processes, women's organisation's voices in the upcoming Scottish Election, and the economic benefits of gender equality. We've pulled them together here, in one handy post, for all your gender and employment news needs.

New Close the Gap research finds women’s labour market equality worth £17bn to the Scottish economy

EVENT: Gender Equality Pays research launch

Close the Gap is launching a new report, Gender Equality Pays, which reviews the evidence of the business and economic cases for addressing women’s inequality in the labour market.

Close the Gap assessment reveals significant regression in public authorities' compliance with the public sector equality duty

Close the Gap completed its second assessment of public authorities’ compliance with the gender and employment requirements of the public sector equality duty. By 30 April 2015 listed public authorities were required to publish:

New statistics show slight decrease in overall gender pay gap but rise in part-time figure

Close the Gap has calculated the difference in pay between women and men working in Scotland using the latest Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) tables released from the Office of National Statistics this morning.

Fairer Scotland: Employment Support Focus Group

In partnership with Engender, we are holding a discussion session for women who have used employment support services.

Women still more likely than men to earn less than the living wage

Last week the Office of National Statistics released data on the number of people earning less than the living wage in the UK using the 2014 ASHE findings. The living wage is an hourly rate that is independently calculated to reflect the basic cost of living in the UK. The figures showed that almost a fifth of Scotland’s workforce (19 per cent) are paid less than the living wage.

EVENTS: SCOTLAND & UK WIDE

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Flexible Working Week

This week is ‘Flexible working week’ in the UK but many businesses across Scotland are still missing out on the benefits that flexibility can bring to their organisations.