§ Mr. Deakinsasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any statistical evidence relating the employment prospects of women in the United Kingdom to their levels of earnings relative to men.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkThe relationship between earnings of women relative to men and their employment prospects is difficult to evaluate as allowance must be made for such factors as the structure of employment demand, available labour supply, and the effects of legislation such as the Equal Pay and Sex Discrimination Acts.
A recent analysis of the topic which tried to take these factors into account suggested that a 1 per cent. increase in female earnings relative to male earnings would reduce the demand for relative female employment by between 3.1 per cent. and 3.8 per cent. ("The Effect of Britain's Anti-Discriminatory Legislation on Relative Pay and Employment" by A. Zabalza and Z. Tzannatos. Centre for Labour Economics, Discussion Paper No. 155, May 1983, a copy of which is available in the Library).