Unite: “We need a target date to end women’s poverty”
The time has come for effective action to close the 17 per cent pay and 43 per cent pension gaps between women and men in the UK and to set a target to end women’s poverty, according to Unite the union, Britain’s largest trade union.
Speaking to coincide with International Women’s Day this Saturday (8th March), Diana Holland, Unite national organiser for women, race and equalities, said getting women’s pay right would also have a major impact on ending child poverty.
“It would stop the horrifying and well documented poverty faced by women in retirement. Our grandmothers waited for equal pay. So did our mothers. So have we. Our daughters and granddaughters should not wait,” she stressed.
Ms. Holland also highlighted the findings of a report by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) which highlighted the 16 per cent gender pay worldwide. The ITUC report found that
more educated women often find themselves on the wrong side of an even bigger pay gap compared to men with similar education
international competition due to globalisation appears in some cases to be narrowing the gap, but this is due more to downward pressure on men’s wages than to increased income for women
while the gap is slowly narrowing in some countries, it is not changing or even increasing in others; and
information on incomes is not available for hundreds of millions of people in informal and unprotected work, mainly in developing countries, leaving a massive deficit in the global knowledge base
“One of the most effective first steps is to ensure we have equal pay audits in all our workplaces,” added Ms. Holland. “BMW at its plant which makes the very popular Mini at Cowley near Oxford has led the way in the manufacturing sector. As we celebrate International Women’s Day, we are calling on all other employers to follow suit.”
ENDS
Notes to editors: Headline inequality figures from official government sources:
The overall gender pay gap in the UK is 30% – 17.2% for full-time workers and 36% for part-time
The average income of women in retirement is 57% that of men’s
30% of women are saving for a private pension compared to 50% of men
The average occupational pension for a married man is £103 a week. It is £17 for a woman.
For a comprehensive statistical summary of inequality figures used by Unite, please email andrew.dodgshon@unitetheunion.com
For further information please contact the Unite press office on 020 7611 2550
Andrew Dodgshon
Unite Press Office
020 7611 2550
07976 832156
andrew.dodgshon@unitetheunion.com
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