THERE are two ways of looking at the new inquiry into the pay gap between men and women in Scotland. On the one hand, the fact that we need an inquiry at all – 47 years after the Equal Pay Act – is more than a little depressing and a symbol of how little progress has been made.
On the other hand, the fact that the Scottish Parliament’s Economy, Fair Work and Jobs Committee has launched the inquiry is at least a sign that the issue is being taken seriously at the highest level. After so many years in which excuses have been made for inaction, perhaps there is some hope at last that the gap will one day be closed.
The need for the inquiry is clear from the latest figures on the subject. According to the Scottish Parliament’s information service, women working full-time in Scotland are earning on average 6.2 per cent less than men, with bigger gaps in the skilled trades and management. Not only that, progress on closing the gap has been so slow that on current trends it will not be eradicated until 2069 – nearly a century after the Equal Pay Act was passed.
Once it gets started, the committee’s job will be to look at why this has happened and what action is required to tackle the issue. It will also examine whether addressing the gender pay gap could positively affect Scotland’s business performance. But whatever happens it will need to tackle some particular questions.
The first is how to keep up the pressure on employers. From April, UK companies with more than 250 employees will be required to carry out an audit and publish information on their pay gap. Not only will it provide a better picture of the differences in pay, it will help indicate where improvements are needed. If change is to happen, companies that fail to pay their male and female employees equally need to be exposed and made to explain why. Transparency is the enemy of inequality.
The second question is how best to equalise pay. One of the great barriers to change is the fact that senior management roles are still much more likely to be held by men – increase the number of women in senior roles in the workplace and you are likely to see positive change in other areas too, such as pay.
And the Scottish Government could start with itself – the number of woman working in senior government roles in Scotland is 35 per cent, some way behind England and Wales. Women are also disproportionately likely to work part-time or in low-paid jobs which means we need to ensure that in seeking to equalise pay, we equalise up the way rather than drive pay and conditions down.
There are other issues that will need tackling, the most obvious of which is the lack of affordable childcare, and that means the Scottish Government investing much more in free nursery places. The inquiry will also need to tackle the so-called motherhood penalty – is it right that if a woman takes two years out of a job to raise children and comes back, she is paid less than her male colleagues?
These are not easy questions but it is a good sign that the committee is keen to get on with the job. It is a long time since the Equal Pay Act was passed and it is high time we achieved its aim.
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