The last thing that should happen in the modern workplace is women being penalised for having children. Yet a report from the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) suggests that’s exactly what’s happening.
Women returning to work after having a baby face a gender gap that rises until they are on average 33% behind their male colleagues 12 years after returning to work.
Four decades after the Equal Pay Act and with a vast array of equal rights legislation on the books, this shouldn’t still be happening. Yet there’s ample evidence that women with children are denied the same opportunities for promotion received by their male colleagues – a clear and obvious motherhood penalty.
There must be a level playing field for career and pay progression.
So whilst UNISON welcomes the reduction in the pay gap for full-time workers, this masks a huge divide between them and part-time workers. In some sectors such as local government, the gap is actually getting bigger. Action must be taken to make employers end this discrimination.
And as a union with a million women members – we’ll continue to fight for equal pay each and every day until we get the level playing field that has been promised for so long.