WUNRN
TUC – UK Trade Union Congress - The TUC is the voice of Britain at work. With 54 affiliated unions representing 6.2 million working people from all walks of life, we campaign for a fair deal at work and for social justice at home and abroad. http://www.tuc.org.uk/about-tuc
Age Immaterial – Women Over 50 in the Workplace - Report
Direct Link to Full 28-Page Report:
http://www.tuc.org.uk/sites/default/files/Age_Immaterial_Women_Over_50_Report_2014_LR.pdf
More women over the age of fifty are working than ever before but the generation of women who blazed a trail for women’s equality in the workplace are still struggling to get a fair deal. Low pay, discrimination, the pressures of juggling caring responsibilities and paid work, and difficulties accessing training opportunities are the key issues facing older women at work. This report considers how things can be improved. The trade union movement is well-placed to speak up on behalf of these women. The caricature of the average trade union member may still be a middle-aged, white man in a donkey
jacket on a picket line, but the reality is somewhat different. The typical trade union member today is more likely to be a woman than a man, and trade union density amongst women is greatest among the 50–59 age group. This is a group of members whose voices all too often go unheard. The bottom line is that this generation of women has been let down. They entered the workforce in the 1970s or 80s. They were the first generation protected by equal pay and sex discrimination laws and the first to have rights to paid maternity leave. Many returned to work after having children and struggled to combine work with childcare at a time when few employers offered flexible working. But after decades of hard work, many of these women feel short-changed. The fact that this generation of women earns a fifth less than their male counterparts and less than any other age group of women should set alarm bells ringing. The TUC has put the needs of older women in the workforce at the forefront of its recent campaigning activities, with overwhelming support from our affiliates and the TUC Women’s Committee. The TUC and affiliate unions have welcomed the establishment of a Commission on Older Women set up by the UK Labour Party in 2013. The findings of the Age Immaterial project have fed into the Labour Party’s Commission and have arrived at many of the same conclusions. The costs of ignoring this generation of women are high. This report calls for urgent change: changes in employer attitudes and practices and changes in policy that will ensure that women over 50 finally get a fair deal at work.