Women still take home 36% less than men

Union action is vital in fighting cuts and for equal pay, photo Paul Mattsson (Click to enlarge)

Corinthia Ward

New research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows women on average still earn 36% less a week than their male counterparts. This is despite more than four decades of equal pay rights being on the statute books.

The Chartered Management Institute carried out a separate study highlighting the difference in pay progression. In the last year, 14% of men in management roles were promoted compared with 10% of women.

The recent attention on sexist dress codes - mandatory heels, skirts and make-up - highlights the bosses' backwards attitudes further. I myself worked in a shop two years ago where my manager told me I needed to wear more make up - as I looked too 'sickly' and 'pale' to fit in with the aesthetics of the shop.

Cuts to child and adult care services force many women out of full-time employment; paying a private company is too expensive for most. Women also lose out on pay rises and promotions due to lost time - or are looked over for jobs, praise and advancement because of the false idea we are less capable.

Profits

In part, sexist ideas persist because they have a role in defending the profits of the super-rich. Bosses rely on women doing free labour when it comes to the home, so they don't have to fund it through higher wages or taxes. Capitalism also uses oppression to divide workers against each other rather than unite us against it.

Legal rights mean little unless workers organise to force their enactment. In the end, only democratic public ownership and socialist planning can lay the basis to make anti-sexist reforms permanent.

The Socialist Party fights for free childcare, adult care and education for all, the abolition of employment tribunal fees, full maternity and paternity pay, and an end to all sexist practices and attitudes. Then both women and men alike can start to see real change.

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