Valerie supports equal pay day campaign

Women earn significantly less than men in full-time work, shown by the current 13.9% gender pay gap. Equal Pay Day is the day that women effectively earn less than men in the calendar year.

Progress on closing the gender pay gap has been slow, this year’s Equal Pay Day was on 10 November 2016, just one day later than it was last year.

It is encouraging that more women are working than ever before. Today, over two-thirds of women aged 16-64 are employed, rising from a slightly over half (53%) in 1971. But it is vital that we tackle gender segregation and the under-valuation of women’s work in the economy.

Greater gender equality in the workplace will benefit the whole of society. The Women And Work Commission found that unleashing women’s full potential could be worth £23 billion a year to the Exchequer.

We need to develop government tax and policy in a way that takes on board the likely impact on women’s equality. As of the last Budget, 86% of the net savings to the treasury through changes to tax and benefits since 2010 have come from women. The Chancellor needs to recognise the value of the female workforce in the Autumn Statement.

Businesses in my constituency should be aware that new regulations will be enforced next year. Any enterprise with more than 250 employees will need to make their gender pay gap public and confirm if they will take action to correct it.