Part-time 'stigma' dogs women at work
LABOUR plans to get women people back into the workplace after they've had children could backfire because much of the part-time work available doesn't pay well enough.
A new survey out today from the Equal Opportunities Commission says that millions are working below their potential and earning less money just because they were in part-time jobs.
Working part-time 'scarred' people's income, earnings potential and promotion prospects for life. Even people who returned to a full-time job after working part-time earned less than those who had always worked full-time. The EOC says women are hardest hit and it warns that Britain was faces a 'crisis' if the problem was not tackled.
Chairwoman Julie Mellor said: 'Many people choose to work part-time but they don't choose low pay. Britain is facing a crisis if it does not address the need for flexible hours at work. Women are hardest hit by the part-time 'penalty' which channels them into low-paid jobs with poor prospects often because they take on more of the caring role at home.
'What we need is to enable parents of older children and carers to ask their employer to work flexibly, and encourage employers to offer better paid jobs on a more flexible basis. Only that way can we keep essential skills in the economy whilst allowing people to do the vital role of caring for others.'
The EOC research found that almost four out of five part-time workers were women, often employed in low level jobs in administration and service industries.
Many women had to take up low paid, part-time work because of the lack of flexibility in their chosen career, leading to a 'skills drain' which had an impact on the country's productivity, said the report.
The odds on a woman being in part-time employment increased by almost eight times if she had a second child, with the lack of affordable childcare a "key trigger" for not working full-time.
Staying in part-time work worsened the pay gap and led to workers receiving less training than full-timers. The EOC called for flexible working practices to be extended throughout industry as a way of reversing the 'stigma and disadvantage' of working in a part-time job.
