This Government’s ambition—to secure sustainable economic growth—has been consistent, and the current strength of our economy and labour market reflects the strength of our commitment to that ambition. Women are key to the strength and resilience of Scotland’s economy and they have made a huge contribution to the recovery that we are seeing.
Women work in every sector of Scottish industry, but too often they do so on an unequal basis and, as reports from respected organisations such as the Fawcett Society show, they are not feeling the same financial benefits of the recovery. I and this Government are determined that women play the fullest possible role at all levels of our economy and, as they do so, I want to ensure that their valuable contribution is adequately rewarded.
Well-rewarded and sustained employment can be the best route out of poverty and the best way to tackle inequality. On Monday, I published “Unlocking Scotland’s Full Potential: boosting skills, wages, equality and growth”—a clear statement on the great value that we place on sharing our economic growth equally. Through equality of opportunity, we can create at all levels and in all areas of our economy a more diverse workforce that maximises our skills, improves the productivity of our businesses and grows our economy at an even faster rate.
We can deliver those ambitions because Scotland has great strengths and strong foundations from which to achieve progress. There are 1.25 million women employed in Scotland, which is the highest number since comparable records began, and the female inactivity rate is lower in Scotland than anywhere else in the United Kingdom. More young women than men stay on at school and are in higher and further education, and Scotland has the highest percentage in the UK of females with national vocational qualifications of at least level 3.
It is unacceptable that those strengths do not combine to create higher earnings for women in Scotland. Our gender pay gap remains unacceptably high at 7.6 per cent, and women earn 17 per cent less than men when we take hourly median earnings for full and part-time work together. Women’s average earnings are lower, with men typically earning £90 a week more than women in full-time work.
The reasons for that are many, but, in short, too many women continue to face occupational segregation, greater job insecurity, higher levels of underemployment and pay inequality. That is not the type of labour market that can deliver the more equitable shares of economic growth, prosperity and opportunity that I believe Scotland must have.
The strategic group on women and work, which I chair, has, while engaging widely across the public and private sectors, played an important role in supporting our efforts to address those challenges, and our focus will be helped in the autumn when the Council of Economic Advisers publishes its report on maximising the economic potential of women in Scotland.
However, the reality is that this Government, with limited access to macroeconomic tools and legislative powers, is constrained in its ability to fully address the challenges. Instead of being able to share the benefits of growth, maximise our talents and unlock our potential, we have a position in Scotland today in which too many households struggle to meet their bills as wages are eroded and the cost of living increases. Around half of working-age adults and more than half of children in poverty live in working households and, despite the UK Government’s stated commitment to support families, women are disproportionately affected by its welfare reforms through changes to child benefit, working tax credit and lone parent benefit conditionality, and that disparity will continue as universal credit is introduced. I believe that those inequalities create an inarguable case for Scotland becoming an independent country. Only independence can address those issues and create a Scotland that provides the opportunities to meet women’s ambitions.
Too many women work in low-paid jobs, so the minimum wage impacts disproportionately on them. We understand and know the difficulties that that can create, and I believe that women deserve better. Therefore, with independence, the minimum wage will rise at least in line with inflation every year. If that had happened over the past five years, the lowest paid would have been £600 a year better off. With responsibility for equalities legislation, we would address the scandalous inequalities in pay that persist despite the current system and 44 years of equal pay legislation.
Independence will allow us to protect women from the worst effects of welfare reform. We will develop a welfare system that is fair, personal and simple and that provides women with the same incentives to work as men. Current plans for universal credit mean that a higher level of partners’ incomes will be taken into account as income when calculating the award. In “Scotland’s Future—Your Guide to an Independent Scotland” we have committed to equalising the earnings disregard between first and second earners—who are more often women—under universal credit. It is estimated that doing so would benefit as many as 70,000 people by as much as £1,200 a year. Of course, the Government is committed to scrapping universal credit under independence.
I want women to contribute fully to the success of Scotland’s businesses and its public and third sectors and to the continued strengthening of the Scottish economy, and I want that contribution to benefit women and their families equally. A lack of affordable, flexible childcare can be a significant barrier to many women accessing opportunities in employment, education or training. We are therefore investing more than £0.25 billion in the next two years to expand the provision for three and four-year-olds and we will also extend that support to the most vulnerable and disadvantaged two-year-olds.
The commission for developing Scotland’s young workforce rightly sets out an ambitious agenda to improve access to employment for young people. Together with local government, we are working to implement the report’s recommendations. We have already made £4.5 million of funding available, which includes support that will tackle gender segregation in training and employment programmes. In the autumn, I will set out more detailed plans for how we will work with schools, colleges, training providers and employers to ensure that existing stereotypes are challenged and barriers are removed.
Improving participation is one half of the challenge that we face in maximising Scotland’s productivity; as important is creating an environment in which all of those in work, including women, can thrive and prosper more equitably than they have been able to do so far. Last week, I welcomed the recommendations of the “Working Together Review” of progressive workplace policies. The review suggests how we can, through a partnership approach, address labour market challenges and build on existing good practice in our industrial relations. We will work with businesses and trade unions in framing our joint response to that review. Together with the commission on developing Scotland’s young workforce, that will provide Scotland with the opportunity to bring the right skills into the right jobs and to transform people’s lives and our workplaces through more equal access to work and fairer treatment in work.
I will update the Parliament on progress in two important areas. The “Working Together Review” recognised the value of a fair work commission, as envisaged in “Scotland’s Future”, as a means to support sustainable employment that pays fairly. Forty-four years on from the introduction of the Equal Pay Act 1970, it is clear that the current constitutional arrangements are not delivering for women in Scotland. I want early action so, with independence, the fair work commission will as its first priority begin to work collaboratively with unions, businesses and others to progress a review of the costs and benefits of mandatory equal pay audits.
We want women to be better represented at the highest levels of public authorities. On 30 April 2014, we launched the consultation “Women on Board—Quality through Diversity” to determine how a minimum quota of 40 per cent female representation could be introduced. The consultation closed on 4 July, and we received a range of views on how to address the gender imbalance on our boards, which has helped to focus our thinking on how best to address the barriers that women face.
Our commitment in that area makes it clear that this is not an issue on which we are prepared to wait any longer. Yesterday, Shona Robison wrote to the United Kingdom Government to request the transfer of legal competence in the equality field to the Scottish Parliament. We have made it clear that we believe that those powers should rest in Scotland as quickly as possible and in advance of full independence.
We will establish a short-life working group to develop a plan for the implementation of quotas, harnessing political support together with expertise around the appointments process to deliver truly gender-diverse boards with the highest calibre of men and women.
On 18 September, we have the opportunity to create an independent Scotland: a Scotland that is unconstrained in its ambition; a Scotland that will maximise opportunities for everyone in the economy, including women; and a Scotland that fully unlocks our potential.
The plans that I have outlined demonstrate that following a vote for independence we will use those powers to deliver a fairer and more equal society.
I move,
That the Parliament welcomes the growth in women’s employment to its highest ever level of 1,250,000 and the significant reduction in female economic inactivity; believes that Scotland must have even higher ambitions to further increase the opportunities for women to enter the workforce; further believes that the Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce and the Working Together Review present important contributions to increasing opportunities for women; recognises however that significant powers to improve opportunities are currently reserved, and agrees that, with independence, these powers will give Scotland the opportunity to remove barriers to women’s ambitions and increase female economic activity, employment and living standards.
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