The Scottish Parliament’s Economy, Jobs and Fair Work Committee has published its gender pay gap report, “No Small Change”. It contains a number of recommendations for devolved powers to be used to close the gender pay gap.
Recognising that women traditionally cluster in low paid sections, defined as the “five Cs” (cleaning, caring, catering, clerical and cashiering) it suggests that the care sector should be a priority for the Scottish Government. If care workers were to receive pay above the national living wage, then this would help close the gender pay gap and increase male recruitment in the sector.
A new programme is suggested to help people return to work as currently three in five professional women returning to the workforce move into lower-skilled or lower-paid roles, with an immediate earnings reduction of up to a third.
The report also suggested that the Scottish Government should ensure that all roles are advertised as flexible, agile or part time unless there is a business reason not to. They are also asked to change procurement regulations so that bidders must supply their gender pay gap.
With an estimated £17.2 billion boost to the Scottish economy if barriers to female participation were removed, the report raises the prospect of different rules in different parts of the UK to address gender pay disparity.