Gender equality at every stage: a roadmap for change
23 July 2019
The Government Equalities Office has published a ‘roadmap’ which sets out the vision and actions to tackle persistent gendered inequalities, alongside the ‘case for change and gender equality monitor’.
Government state that your gender should not define or limit the choices you make about what you study, where you work, your career ambitions and how you care for others. The roadmap sets out its vision to enable everyone to contribute to the country’s economy and balance caring responsibilities with a rewarding career.
The roadmap sets out how Government is going to tackling these eight key drivers of inequality:
- Limiting attitudes to gender can hold women and men back across their lives
- Women tend to work in lower-paid sectors and occupations and are less likely to progress
- The working-age benefits system hasn’t always tackled the disadvantages that women and those with caring responsibilities face
- Women take more time out of the labour market to care for children
- Women are providing more informal care and unpaid work for others
- Some women face barriers returning to or entering the labour market
- Women are more likely to face financial instability later in life, due to decisions taken throughout working life
- We need to ensure that we sustain strong foundations for the future
Published alongside the roadmap is a longer case for change which examines in greater depth the factors that underlie gendered differences in work and pay, supporting the vision and action laid out in the roadmap.
Thirdly, the Gender Equality Monitor (GEM) has been published which brings together a suite of indicators in a single place to monitor gender equality across five key areas:
- Economic participation and progression
- Attitudes and leadership
- Education and skills
- Crime and justice
- Health and wellbeing
Bringing these measures together allows users to understand the gendered nature of these issues and allows the government to monitor progress.
Gender equality at every stage: a roadmap for change
The Gender Equality Monitor: tracking progress on gender equality
The case for change: how economic gender inequalities take hold across the life course