Employment and Pay

Date Posted: Sunday 20th March 2016

The Women’s Budget Group analyses the gender impact of employment and pay policies

EmploymentPaySelf Employment
Investing 2% of GDP in care industries could create 1.5 million jobs

A report by the UK Women’s Budget Group for the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) shows that investing public funds in childcare and elder care services is more effective in reducing public deficits and debt than austerity policies: it would boost employment, earnings, economic growth and fosters gender equality.

Click here to read WBG, (2016), Investing in the Care economy to boost employment and gender equality: A briefing from the UK Women’s Budget Group on a gender analysis of employment stimulus in seven OECD countries, Women’s Budget Group, London

Click here to read the full report,

De Henau, J., Himmelweit, S. Łapniewska, Z. and Perrons, D. (2016).Investing in the Care Economy: A gender analysis of employment stimulus in seven OECD countries. Report by the UK Women’s Budget Group for the International Trade Union Confederation, Brussels.

Women and self employment

Self-employment in the UK is at the highest point since records began 40 years ago, with the number of self-employed increasing by 650,000 since 2008 to reach 4.5 million.

Self-employed women are the majority of the newly self-employed. Since the 2008 downturn 58% of the newly self-employed have been female.

Click here to read WBG (2016), Here to Stay: Women’s self-employment in a (post) austerity era, Women’s Budget Group, London

Trade Union Bill

September 2005 Women’s Budget Group Response to Trade Union Bill Consultation  

Working time

September 2004 WBG Response to Department for Trade and Industry’s Working Time – Widening the Debate 

July 2003 WBG response to Department for Trade and Industries’ Accounting for People Taskforce consultation

Additional briefings and responses

2002 WBG Response to Department for Trade and Industry Report Full and Fulfilling Employment: Creating the Labour Market of the Future 

2001 WBG Comment on Government Green Paper Work and Parents Competitiveness and choice