The Future of Work is an Equitable One | Adjusting our Sails on IWD

The Future of Work is an Equitable One | Adjusting our Sails on IWD

Written by GTA Future of Work Board member Kylie Taylor

Today is International Women’s Day, a day diarised to mark the achievements of women, calling on people everywhere to ?imagine a gender equal world – a world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination. I don’t know about you, but I find that difficult to even imagine!

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IWD has clear historical roots dating back to 1909 New York, when Ukrainian-born suffragette, Clara Lemlich, led 15,000 female garment workers in New York in a strike for better pay, working hours and improved working conditions. ?Ukrainians use yellow mimosa as a symbol of the holiday. For those that aren’t Botanists, the mimosa is a gorgeous yellow flower that symbolizes the sun – a sign of love, security, light, joy, happiness and harmony. It is said that to send a bouquet of mimosa is to deliver a message of friendship and love.

In 2024 - some 115 years later - the day continues to be celebrated and marked globally in over 100 countries, because while we have come some way since Clara’s time, there is still no place on Earth where women are afforded the same rights as men.

IWD is a day that highlights the disparity that still exists and a day where we come together to openly discuss the action, we need to take to drive gender parity. From primogeniture to Politics, women are disadvantaged at every turn and in the workplace sadly, this disparity is heightened.?

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At the time of writing, there is a Gender Pay Gap of 14.4% in the UK and that gap widens exponentially for women of BIPOC backgrounds[i]. ?What’s more, the highest earners have a larger pay gap than the lowest earnings, meaning that comparatively, a female CEO is being paid less than a male CEO… Not that there are many to survey from - ?the fact remains that there are still more CEOs called John leading Fortune 500 companies, than there are female CEOS overall. Not to pick on John, but there’s also a Peter problem - in the FTSE 100 here in the UK, there are more CEOs called Peter than there are females: six to five.?

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At the current rate of progression, as a society it will take over 100 years to close the Gender Pay Gap, and by the time a woman is in her 40s, the Gender Pay Gap has widened significantly, - a phenomenon the World Economic Forum refer to as the ‘Motherhood Penalty[ii].’?

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Ultimately, research tells us that pay disparity in the workplace comes down to persistent gender norms with research suggesting this accounts for 80% of the gap[iii]. Why? Women traditionally take on more of the unpaid caring responsibilities – 60% more according to the Office of National Statistics ?- with mothers experiencing a? 60% drop in their earnings compared with fathers in the decade following the birth of their first child…. And that’s for those who manage to retain their roles, because maternity discrimination is disappointingly rife, with Pregnant Then Screwed stating that 54,000 women in the UK lose their jobs each year simply for procreating and a further 390,000 working mothers experience discrimination in the workplace in relation to their caring responsibilities. Sadly these figures are believed to be far higher, as many women are slapped with an NDA when settling maternity discrimination disputes.

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As a member of The GTA - Future of Work Group, where our goal is to is to foster a more inclusive and accessible Future of Work by highlighting best practices and insight, it is my view that there is no more important of a subject to the Future of Work debate than those pertaining to diversity, equity and inclusion… So how can organisations circumnavigate this ‘Motherhood penalty’ and ensure their workplaces are equitable and inclusive? A complicated question with a complicated answer, but in short, training, empowerment, investment and flexonomics[iv]…

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Two years ago, Anna Whitehouse, founder of Mother Pukka and Flex Appeal, in partnership with Sir Robert McAlpine , published a powerful piece of research titled Flexonomics: The economic and fiscal value of flexible working. Through this groundbreaking research, we know that flexible working delivers a ￡37 billion boost to the UK economy each year and by increasing the current rate of flexible working, this figure could rise as high as ￡55 billion – equivalent to the gross value added of the arts, entertainment, recreation, water and waste sectors combined! What’s more, it actually costs businesses ￡1.7 billion a year in flex working refusals. It’s also hugely powerful in terms of attracting and retaining top talent, with 92% of young people and 87% of all people wanting flexible working. With millennials soon to account for 75% of the workforce, organisations will be set to suffer if they don’t embrace a future of work mindset.

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This year’s IWD theme is #InspireInclusion – inclusion means us all. This is a collective problem – not one for the HR professionals to solve, our politicians or CEOs. We must take collective action and in order to do that, there must be collective ownership… But quite honestly, there is so much work to be done that ‘taking action’ is rather intimidating; where does one begin to start? My view is we start with ourselves, within our families, within our teams, within our own organisations. As Dolly Parton said herself, ‘we cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.’ ?The Future of Work is an equitable one.

#IWD #inspireinclusion #internationalwomensday #genderpaygap #flexappeal #pregnantthenscrewed #maternitydiscrimination #motherpukka

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[i] Intersectional analysis shows the largest pay gaps in HE are for Black men and women (ucea.ac.uk)

[ii] How to reduce the motherhood penalty and the gender pay gap | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)

[iii] The ‘motherhood penalty’ is widening the pay gap (pwc.com)

[iv] PowerPoint Presentation (motherpukka.co.uk)

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