Valuing and counting women’s work Anna Ritchie Allan, Close the Gap

Pay gap Occupational segregation Glass ceiling Men’s work / women’s work Women in the boardroom Inflexible working Childcare Discrimination Pay and reward Value

WOMEN’S EMPLOYMENT Women’s position in the labour market is more precarious: Need to work flexibly to accommodate caring responsibilities Concentrated in low pay sectors and occupations More likely to be in temporary or part-time work Have different experience of training and development More women than men are on zero hour contracts

UNDERVALUING Two aspects of undervaluing: women are paid less than men for doing the same job (individual); and women are employed in female-dominated occupations which are undervalued (labour market).

HOW UNDERVALUATION WORKS Human capital Concentration of women in low paid occupations (occupational segregation) UK penalty for the lowest paid Undervaluation within pay systems that allow for individualised pay

WHAT IS WORK? WorkLeisure Refuse collectionDoing the recycling Being a chefCooking a meal for your family Being a sewing machinist in a factorySewing clothes for your children and grandchildren Farming a cash cropSubsistence farming Writing a letter as a private sector board member Writing a letter as a third sector board member Caring for patients in a hospitalCaring for your own child, sick family member, or older family member

WOMEN’S UNPAID WORK Unpaid labour in the home and in the community GDP doesn’t count this work Informal childcare is worth £343bn to the economy – equivalent to 23% of GDP (ONS) One-third to a half of all valuable economic activity is not accounted for in traditional measures of economic performance i.e. GDP (OECD)

WHAT DOES DECENT WORK FOR WOMEN LOOK LIKE? Equal pay for equal work Free from sex discrimination; pregnancy and maternity discrimination; and sexual harassment. A workplace culture which promotes gender equality Flexible working, including part-time work, available at all levels Affordable, accessible, quality childcare

WHAT DOES DECENT WORK FOR WOMEN LOOK LIKE? ‘Women’s work’ is valued Women’s skills are visible, and used Reproductive labour is counted

Anna Ritchie Allan