International Women’s Day

Baroness Watkins of Tavistock Excerpts

Friday 10th March 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Watkins of Tavistock (CB)]

My Lords, it is an honour to speak in this debate and to recognise Baroness Boothroyd, who very soon after I got here took me out to a charity lunch as her guest and told me not to worry if I repeated things that other people had said, which was one of my concerns, because, she said, the men do it quite comfortably.

We have heard about the vital need to address the many challenges that women face globally, but this should not hamper us considering women in the UK more closely. I will highlight the crucial need to tackle discrimination that parents, particularly women, currently face regarding extortionate childcare costs and gender inequalities in our healthcare system.

The Childcare: Affordability and Availability debate in Parliament on 21 February this year highlighted that childcare costs in the UK are the second highest in the world, behind only Japan. In the debate, one Member of Parliament reported that the cost

“is driving a bulldozer through the last 100 years of progress on women playing an equal part in the workplace and in our economy.”—[Official Report, Commons, 21/2/23; col. 26WH.]

The financial burden of childcare is usually borne by new mothers who are unable to return to work or forced to return part-time, thus hindering their career progression and exacerbating the gender pay gap. Data from the Office for National Statistics show that the number of women leaving the workforce for caring responsibilities—for both childcare and other family care—increased by 12.6% last year.

A national report into the childcare crisis released this month by Pregnant Then Screwed—rather than the other way around—revealed that 76% of mothers who pay for childcare say it no longer makes financial sense for them to work. The Coram report published yesterday also raises these issues. The Guardian reported that in the UK, 540,000 mothers have been prevented from working due to the lack of suitable childcare, and many have reduced their working hours for the same reason.

In addition, inflation has increased childcare fees by an average of 44% between 2010 and 2021, resulting in childcare costs being now at least the same as core domestic costs for three in five families; for lone parents, this rises to three in four. Unfortunately, salary increases have not matched the cost of living and some professions have experienced pay cuts. Health and social care staff, for example, have been subjected to real-term pay cuts totalling between 10% and 26% since 2008-09. We have invested in professional education for women, particularly, for example, in medicine, yet very few are able to work full-time, even if they want to—although I accept that some choose not to.

I highlight the case of a mother and sole carer of two children aged 8 and 9, working part-time as a higher trainee in psychiatry. She thought that childcare costs would decrease as her children went into full-time education and that her pay would comfortably cover the costs as she progressed to become a consultant psychiatrist. Currently, she is paying from a single salary for after-school clubs, childminders for late shifts and school holiday clubs, the monthly costs of which surpass her mortgage fees. She found the Government’s tax-free childcare system too complex and has shied away from claiming. Indeed, the recent childcare cost debate in the other House identified that £2.8 billion is sitting unclaimed in the Treasury. The Government need to address the complexity in the system and to consider childcare as part of infrastructure spending to retain women in the workforce. Should childcare costs be tax-deductible, for example, up to a certain level?

Dame Lesley Regan’s report Better for Women in 2019, already referred to, highlights the need to keep women in the workforce by embedding their health issues in workplace policies. Two common debilitating conditions mentioned are postnatal depression and the menopause, which can have significant physical and mental health consequences, making working life difficult. It is well known that work is a really important preventer of mental ill-health. A survey conducted by Wellbeing of Women found that nearly a quarter had considered leaving their jobs because of the menopause. A study for the Department for Work and Pensions estimated that if 0.6 million more postmenopausal women worked full-time, £20 billion could be added to GDP. Dame Lesley Regan’s report recommended that the UK Government introduce mandatory menopause workplace education, training and policies to help keep women in work and to break the stigma associated with menopause.

In Quebec, childcare is treated as critical infrastructure, like schools or roads, costing parents about £6 a day. Hence, 85% of women in Quebec aged 26 to 44 are part of the workforce, generating extra tax and reducing the cost of social benefits. In many of our neighbouring countries, state-funded childcare is provided to all preschool children, thus increasing women’s access to further education and employment and bringing the benefits of work in terms of mental health promotion, through social interaction and increased self-esteem, and economic empowerment. Enabling mothers to work the hours they want could, it is estimated, generate upwards of £9.4 billion in additional earnings a year—an additional economic output equivalent to 1% of GDP.

Therefore, please can the Minister explain the Government’s long-term intention to adequately fund childcare, early education costs and training in the workplace to increase women’s attendance at work?