- Conference
- 2003 National Women's Conference
- Date
- 23 September 2002
- Decision
- Carried
Twelve million women in the United Kingdom are aged 45 or over and the number is increasing. Many of these women spend longer in paid employment, making an important contribution to the economy and public services. Unfortunately, little interest has been taken in the impact this has had on this neglected group’s physical, emotional and mental health as well as their personal well-being. Older women have had less opportunity to benefit from the equal employment strategies of recent years. They are more likely to be concentrated in traditionally ‘female’ occupations with low status and limited rewards.
Conference instructs the National Women’s Committee to develop a campaign to:
1)increase awareness among older women of their rights in the workplace;
2)promote a rights based approach to age discrimination;
3)develop strategies to ensure the voices of older women are raised and heard on all aspects of health and safety and other employment issues;
4)ensure older women are more involved in the development of occupational health and safety policies and are assisted to become safety representatives;
5)ensure that the training of health and safety representatives are age and gender sensitive;
6)encourage branches to negotiate policies that promote a healthier work/life balance for older women;
7)make a positive difference for older working women.