Fact
File 
Communities
and Local Government News Release
Ruth
Kelly announces support to create more quality part-time
jobs for women - Communities and Local Government
News Release 2007/0070
02
April 2007
Ruth Kelly, Minister for Women, stepped up efforts to reduce
the gender pay gap today by awarding nearly half a million
pounds to a range of organisations to create more quality
part time jobs at senior level.
Visiting
a Royal Mail sorting office, Ruth Kelly met mail workers
who will benefit from one of the schemes awarded funding
from a new Quality Part Time Work Fund.
£25,000,
match-funded by Royal Mail, will be used to develop job-share
and part-time managerial posts on two sites in London. Royal
Mail intend to make 10 per cent of management jobs on these
sites part-time within 18 months. They then aim to roll
this out across the business. Other successful projects
include a scheme to recruit more senior female investigators
on a part-time basis at Durham Constabulary; a national
job-share register and a project researching role models
for part time working in ethnic minority communities in
Blackburn.
Supporting
employers to create more quality part-time and flexible
posts was one of the commitments made in the Government’s
action plan last September, following a recommendation by
the independent Women and Work Commission. The fund is designed
to open up more part-time jobs for women at a senior level
through giving women the confidence to pursue part-time
working and helping employers find ways to make it work.
Organisations awarded funding had to demonstrate their commitment
to the project and commit to sharing the lessons learnt
with other employers.
Ruth
Kelly, said;
"The
part-time pay gap is still too wide with women working part-time
earning 40 per cent less than men working full-time. Working
with a range of employers across business, local government
and the voluntary sector, we can kick start the process
of enabling more women to work part-time in senior posts.
As things stand, working part-time is concentrated in low-paid
jobs and junior grades - this fund is designed to show employers
that women can balance climbing the career ladder with their
home lives."
One
year on from the Women and Work Commission’s report, which
was commissioned by the Prime Minister to look at how to
reduce the gender pay gap and help women reach their full
potential, Ruth Kelly today published further progress on
the Government’s action plan in Towards a Fairer Future;
-
From
May 2007, careers advice will be free from stereotypical
images and messages that assume there are ‘jobs for girls’
and ‘jobs for boys’.
-
We
will introduce new diplomas, such as in Engineering and
Information Technology, which will encourage young people
to consider and opt for non-stereotypical routes.
-
We
are investing £40 million to help women with low skills
gain qualifications, develop their confidence and also
provide them with mentoring support.
-
£250
million is being spent on improving the skills and qualifications
of those who teach under 5s, the majority of whom are
women.
-
115
employers have signed up to the Exemplar Employer scheme
for companies and organisations that have particular schemes
in place to support their female staff to balance work
and family life. These range from Asda to Lloyds TSB to
local authorities. Exemplar organisations are meeting
in May to share their experiences of what works to support
these aims.
-
To
support women back into work after taking a career break,
we are piloting a learndirect telephone service to test
the value of one to one support. It is aimed at adults
returning from career breaks, seeking to progress in their
careers and wanting to develop their skills. 55 per cent
of callers to this service are women.
Commenting
on the Government's progress during the past year on their
recommendations, Margaret Prosser, chair of the Women
and Work Commission, said;
"Closing
the gender pay gap will not happen overnight, however the
Government is making assured progress in helping women reach
their goals in the workplace. In particular, we commend
the work they are doing with employers to recognise the
benefits of recruiting and retaining staff from the whole
talent pool through the Exemplar Employer scheme and the
dedicated training programmes and pilots which are underway
to help women break into male-dominated occupations. But
we do want to see the momentum kept up, in particular on
standards in education and careers advice to ensure that
all subjects are made appealing and accessible to girls."
____________________________________
1.
The list of successful bidders for the Quality Part Time
Work Fund are:
-
3
large employers (Kelloggs, Tescos and Royal Mail);
-
1
SME flexible working consultancy (Wisework Ltd)
-
3
local authorities (Swindon Borough Council, Salisbury
District Council and East Riding of Yorkshire Council)
-
1
police force (Durham constabulary)
-
4
voluntary sector organisations (Working Families, Medical
Women’s Federation, Youth Action Ltd in Blackburn, and
the Workers’ Educational Association West Midlands)
-
1
private-public-voluntary sector partnership project (between
Equals One Recruitment Ltd, UK Resource Centre for Women
in Science Engineering and Technology, Yorkshire Forward
and Working Families)
2.
The Women and Work Commission Report Shaping a Fairer Future
was presented to the Prime Minister by Baroness Prosser
on 27 February 2006. The Government published its action
plan in response the recommendations in September 2006.
3.
The action plan is on-top of the raft of new rights already
introduced by the Government including:
-
Extending
the period of statutory maternity pay from 18 to 26 weeks,
and to 39 weeks from April 07.
-
Giving
all new fathers the right to two weeks paid paternity
leave and a new right to an additional period of paternity
leave of up to 26 weeks.
-
All
parents with children under six or a disabled child under
18 the right to require employers to seriously consider
their requests to work flexibly. This will extend to carers
of adults from April 07.
-
All
parents the right to 13 weeks of additional unpaid leave
during the first five years of their child's life. Parents
of disabled children are able to take 18 weeks' parental
leave up to their child's 18th birthday.
4.
The Women and Work Commission Report Towards a Fairer Future
is available from: www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk/women_work_commission
[External link].
5.
The Women and Work Commission found that the lack of availability
and cost of childcare is a major constraint on women’s choices
of occupation and working patterns.
-
To
make childcare more affordable we are providing more help
than ever before (around £2.7 million a day) to working
families with their childcare costs through Working Tax
Credits.
-
Three
and four year olds are guaranteed a free, part-time early
education place and there are plans to do more.
-
All
schools will offer extended services to all pupils from
8am to 6pm.
-
3,500
Sure Start Children’s Centres will be established offering
easy access to high quality integrated services for all
children under five and their families. Over 1,150 Centres
are already open.
6.
The Women and Work Commission estimated that increasing
women’s participation and enabling them to participate in
jobs which are normally done by men could be worth up to
£23 billion to the UK economy.
7.
47 per cent of new mothers work flexitime compared to just
17 per cent in 2002 and 31 per cent of new fathers now work
flexibly; almost triple the number in 2002.
Information
supplied by Communities and Local Government News Release
2007/0070
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