Gender Equality

Pay Equality

The pay gap between men and women still persists. On average, women are paid 12.6% less than men. For part-time workers, the figure is a staggering 40%.

The Equality Bill will fight this injustice by requiring public bodies to be transparent about their hiring practises, and open about how much they pay their employees. We can’t tackle inequality if it stays hidden, and it is only by bringing the details into the open that we can pursue fairness.

Political Representation

Our democracy will be stronger when it truly represents the diversity of our society. Since introducing all-women shortlists for Parliamentary Candidates in 1992, the number of female MPs jumped from 60 to 128. This, however, still only makes up 19% of Parliament, despite women accounting for 51% of the population.

The laws allowing all-women shortlists, which were set to expire in 2015, will now be extended to 2030 so that we can continue to build a genuinely representative democracy.

Positive Action

In cases where there are two equally qualified candidates for a job, the Equality Bill will allow for employers to take under-representation into account. This will level the playing field for women seeking to break into under-represented sectors, and to break through the glass ceiling.
Positive Action is supported by the CBI, the TUC and the Equality and Human Rights Commission, as a means of producing workforces which are more diverse and more reflective of the communities they operate in.