§ 4. Julie Morgan (Cardiff, North)What steps she is taking to encourage equal pay for women. [25586]
§ The Minister for Women (Ms Patricia Hewitt)The Government have taken a number of steps already to improve levels of pay for women, including the introduction of the national minimum wage, which has benefited around 1 million women. The Employment Bill that is now going through the House will provide improved maternity rights to help ensure that more women return to their original jobs, and will strengthen the Equal Pay Act 1970 with the introduction of equal pay questionnaires.
§ Julie MorganI thank my right hon. Friend for that reply. I am sure that she is aware that NOP research on 430 equal pay, conducted for the Equal Opportunities Commission, showed that 93 per cent. thought that their pay structures were fair, but that only a third had actually checked whether they were fair. How can we overcome such problems, and how confident is my right hon. Friend that employers will check their pay systems for fairness voluntarily?
§ Ms HewittThe research to which my hon. Friend refers, as well as research that has been carried out in government and in the EOC, makes it clear that the causes of unequal pay are complex. Such research includes the fact that many women spend some of their working life in part-time employment, usually trading lower pay for the hours that they want. All the steps that we are taking to promote flexible working, as well as making it easier for women to obtain information about the pay structure in their firms, will also help to close the pay gap. I was campaigning for equal pay 30 years ago, and I do not want my daughter's generation to have to carry on doing that in 10 or 20 years.