During the last quarter of 2014, Scotland had 1.5% less unemployed women than the EU average. Putting us at a pioneering position in female employment.
Annabelle Ewing, Minister for youth and women’s employment said, “We have recently seen record levels of female employment in Scotland and the gap between male and female employment is also near a record low.
“We need however to remove the gender gap entirely, encourage more women into senior positions and to set out in businesses of their own. As well as helping those actively seeking a job into employment.”
While this is great news all round, many experts still fear there is significant gender discrimination right across the UK.
Business Environment study, 2014
This study found that 26% of 1,500 women interviewed claimed to experience some form of gender discrimination at work. 19% believed they’d missed out on a promotion because of either their gender or for taking maternity leave. And 27% of female bosses said they’d be reluctant to hire a woman of childbearing age. But most worryingly, 25% of employers polled said they would consider not hiring a woman if she had children.
David Saul from Business Environment said, “I am saddened that despite huge progress made in the last decades, such a high proportion of women in the workplace still find they come up against the same old problems.”
What’s it like out there?
According to equality charities, government austerity measures and cuts are a contributing factor to the UK’s pay gap and gender discrimination levels.
Last year Britain fell to 26th place in the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Index. A drop of eight places which put us lower than most of Europe.
A spokesperson from the group A Fair Deal for Women said, “Without swift action to address women’s inequality in all areas, we could see the UK falling even lower. Perhaps it is women’s woefully low representation in the top positions in our society that means they have become the load bearers of austerity.”
The government’s position
A government spokesperson claims that with social justice being a central theme in the Queen’s speech, the government will be able to continue its work in eradicating gender inequality. They stated that there are more women in work than ever before and the gender pay gap has fallen lower than ever. They also said:
“Doubling the amount of free childcare available to working parents will help more women back into work while four million couples will benefit from a £1,000 transferable tax allowance from 2015.”
What does this mean for the average working woman?
With all of these figures and claims being thrown around, you could be forgiven for feeling like it’s every woman for herself. But if you are affected or just concerned by these issues, we’re here to help.
Johnson Legal are one of Edinburgh’s foremost employment and business law firms. We’d be happy to talk to you about any of the issues raised here and help you get the most from your situation.
So get in touch today.