International Women’s Day

Baroness Gale Excerpts

Friday 8th March 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Gale (Lab)]

My Peers, I am very pleased to be speaking in this International Women’s Day debate today, especially as it is on 8 March—the first time for a good number of years that the debate has been on the very day. With so many speakers, I am sure that we will get a wide range of views. As the Minister said, we are all looking forward to the maiden speech of the noble Baroness, Lady Casey.

This debate is looking at

“the steps taken to promote the economic inclusion of women”,

but how do we get to that stage and what are the barriers? The United Nations has said:

“Women’s economic empowerment is essential to achieving women’s rights and gender equality. Women’s economic empowerment means ensuring women can equally participate in and benefit from decent work and social protection; access markets and have control over resources, their own time, lives, and bodies; and increased voice, agency, and meaningful participation in economic decision-making at all levels from the household to international institutions”.


That sums it up very nicely. We need more women in positions of power for women to achieve economic and financial freedom. Getting women into positions of power in all walks of life, such as politics, business, public bodies, sport and the arts, is the way forward. Unfortunately, there are many barriers, such as sexism, misogyny and bullying in the workforce, that can prevent women progressing upward in the workplace, as recent reports have shown. The “Today” programme this morning featured three separate instances of sexism and misogyny against women in the workplace.

Where are women in the political life of the UK? Things have certainly improved in terms of getting more women into the House of Commons. Today there are 226 women MPs, who make up 35% of all MPs. But since 1918 only 564 women have been elected as MPs, compared with 4,752 men; that is quite a difference. Where there is a good number of women in elected institutions, there is a different agenda. Wales is an example. Women make up 43% of the Senedd Cymru, the Welsh Parliament. I am proud to say that in the Labour group in the Senedd there have always been more women than men. That came about because Labour took positive action when the Welsh Assembly was established in 1999, ensuring that women would play a big role in this new institution. The majority of the Cabinet at the moment are women, not for the first time.

Where there are enough women in political life the agenda is different, as we have seen in Wales. Wales has a Children’s Commissioner, the first in the UK. It has an Older People’s Commissioner, the first in the world. I really wish the UK Government would accept that older people need a commissioner in England. There is also a Future Generations Commissioner, again the first in the UK and—I am not sure—possibly even in the world. These are just three examples of the influence that women can have on the political agenda.

As the Minister said, things are improving but there is still some way to go. Let us look at what is preventing women having economic inclusion. Commenting on the Budget earlier this week, Helen Walker, the chief executive of Carers UK, said that

“women disproportionately shoulder the bulk of unpaid caring responsibilities in the UK. Of the 5.7 million unpaid carers … 59% are women. And for women out of work with caring responsibilities, the cost-of-living crisis has plunged many into poverty. Thousands are struggling to make ends meet and many are at greater risk of poor health as they cut back on essentials such as food and heating. For women in work, juggling employment with their caring responsibilities can be very tough … women are more likely to be in part-time and insecure work such as zero-hours contracts, often to take on caring responsibilities. This leaves working women who are unpaid carers more vulnerable to loss of earnings and even dismissal. The new Carer’s Leave Act which comes into force in April this year will offer some protection to working women, granting up to five days unpaid leave to carers and offering the same rights as other forms of family leave … But if carers are to be properly supported, all parties must recognise the enormous societal and economic value that people looking after family and friends provide. It is estimated that the value of unpaid care in England and Wales alone is the equivalent of a second NHS—a staggering £162 billion per year. Ensuring carers—including women—have access to practical support, can prioritise their own health and wellbeing while caring, and remain financially resilient is crucial for the overall health of the country”.

I am grateful to Helen Walker for all her work in this field.

The briefing I have received from Refuge, a charity that supports women victims of domestic violence, says that women will experience economic abuse, a form of domestic abuse involving an abuser restricting a person’s ability to acquire, use and maintain money or other economic resources. Research by Refuge in 2020 found that two in five adults in the UK have experienced economic abuse in a current or former intimate partner relationship. Economic abuse often prevents domestic abuse survivors being able to access the vital funds needed to flee from abusive relationships, forcing them to continue living with dangerous perpetrators.

Aspects of the welfare system, including universal credit and the Child Maintenance Service, are routinely used by perpetrators to facilitate economic abuse. The ongoing cost of living crisis has created yet more opportunities for perpetrators to control and abuse survivors through restricting their access to financial resources.

Refuge says that the £2 million flee fund announced by the Home Office in January 2024 is welcome, providing one-off payments to survivors to help them escape from abuse. However, Refuge says that only a fraction of the survivors who need to access this emergency support will be able to. It gives the example of the allocated funds for February this year, which were spent in a matter of days. More funding is required to support all women who need access to this life-saving emergency fund. Adequate investment in the flee fund and specialist domestic abuse services, providing economic support to survivors, is therefore vital. Will the Minister look at this and support the idea of more investment for the flee fund, as it would be a lifeline for women who need to escape from abusive relationships?

The Office for National Statistics report on the gender pay gap in the UK, which the Minister mentioned, shows that the latest figures, from 2023, demonstrate a 7.7% pay gap among full-time employees and a 14.3% gap for all employees. The ONS reported on earnings in April 2023: the median weekly earnings for men were £666 and for women £491. Just for those in full-time work, the figures were £725 for men and £629 for women. The gap seems to be widening, in part demonstrating the impact of working part-time or leaving the labour market due to unpaid care. The effects accumulate across a lifetime, peaking when women reach their 50s.

Considering that the Equal Pay Act was enacted in 1975, how much longer do women have to wait to achieve equality of earnings? It has taken an awfully long time to get to this stage. Does the Minister agree that achieving this would go a long way towards economic inclusion for women? I look forward to the contributions of other Peers and the Minister’s reply, as we all celebrate International Women’s Day.