Scottish Greens Central Scotland candidate Kirsten Robb says gender equality in the workplace will ultimately benefit everyone
WOMEN earn less than men in Scotland. To be more specific, the average woman actually earns PS175.30 less than the average man every single week.
The vast gender pay gap is a symptom of a much bigger picture of inequality in Scotland today, and it’s one that many people struggle to grapple with. It’s hard to believe that the women in our lives and our communities are given such a raw deal and it can be hard to understand how this came to pass.
The simple fact is, from birth, girls are set up for inequality, while boys are encouraged to be boisterous and brave – the pirates and adventurers of the world; girls are princesses or home makers – taught timidity and given a doll to look after.
The simple fact is, from birth, girls are set up for inequality, while boys are encouraged to be boisterous and brave.
So on to our schools, colleges and universities where a stark gender split in subject areas still exists, and modern apprenticeships where young women take 95 per cent of childcare places and only 0.8 per cent of places in civil engineering. My point is, the inequalities evident when we look at women in the workforce don’t arrive from thin air. Our society’s perception of women as innately more capable and willing to play a caring role in society has a huge part to play.
Women are twice as likely to give up paid work to care for disabled or older relatives and four times as likely to do so in order to provide care for children and older people.
Around 70 per cent of Scotland’s 780,000 unpaid carers are women and we also provide the vast majority of unpaid childcare. And if we are to pay for childcare? It’ll cost you – nearly PS45 a day. At a time where 85 per cent of welfare cuts are falling on women, soaring in-work poverty and more families turning to food banks to survive, for most this price is too high. And so inequality flourishes and women are locked out of the world of equal work for equal pay.
I’m proud that the Scottish Green Party has bold plans to address gender inequality, including for women in the workplace. We believe that Scotland can be an equal society where women have the opportunity, support and flexibility to work in a wider range of industries and workplaces, and are as equally rewarded for their labour as men.
Women are twice as likely to give up paid work to care for disabled or older relatives and four times as likely to do so in order to provide care for children and older people.
To achieve this, we have to address the inequalities that exist in the care sector. Greens will campaign for adequate resources to fully implement the Carers Act, making sure that unpaid carers are supported with replacement care, respite breaks, health checks and cheaper travel for carers on income support. We’ll make childcare affordable and flexible, with 20 hours high quality free nursery care per week so people can combine work and care, and we’ll provide top-ups of child benefit for those who need it.
There is no easy fix to the problem of inequality, but by working together at every level to challenge gender stereotypes, provide people with practical and financial support, we can reward carers properly for the humanity they show every single day and even up the world of work for women.
As a woman with two young children, a part-time job, and a desire to change the world for the better, I know many of the challenges that women face in work and in politics and I am committed to pushing faster and further on gender equality. Greater equality for women will benefit everyone – the prize is progress for all.
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Picture courtesy of Cory M. Grenier