Government must act to break glass ceiling on women’s pay

WHILE agreeing with the sentiments expressed in your editorial on gender and pay (July 19), there are a number of points that need to be made.

As stated, there is still a glass ceiling for women that needs to be broken.

One of the reasons for this is occupational segregation.

Occupations such as nursing or teaching, which are predominantly female, are less well paid than ones that are predominantly male.

The glass ceiling, however, makes up one-third of the pay gap; the other two-thirds also need to be addressed.

Women who have children have ‘reduced attachment’ to the labour market, with a number of consequences.

This means they tend to take time out for childcare, or care of elders, and therefore may miss out on promotional opportunities.

If they return to work, they may take lower paid jobs in order to have more flexibility, but employers may view them as less committed because of their ‘second shift’ responsibilities.

Research which I undertook for ICTU highlighted the fact that in order to bridge the pay gap, actions are needed on several fronts.

Firstly, taking a case to the Office of the Director of Equality Investigations (ODEI) is complex and time-consuming.

While SIPTU and other unions continue to take cases with significant gains, it takes about two years to process a case to finality.

This discourages many, especially those without a union to back them, and this means that unscrupulous employers may take advantage, thus also penalising good employers.

The Government, therefore, must resource the ODEI if it is genuinely committed to equality.

Secondly, the issue of flexible working must be addressed. New technology makes this ever simpler, yet often middle management continue to drag their heels on this issue.

Thirdly, decent, affordable childcare will always be an issue for women.

And when it comes to pensions many women with gaps in work service, or on low pay, face a future on either low pensions or none at all .

Significantly, the pay gap is increasing in the services area with the influx of workers from abroad , some of whom are being exploited. SIPTU continues to campaign on all these issues, and it is no surprise that the pay gap is lower in sectors that are unionised.

International research shows that low-paid women and immigrant workers are most vulnerable and are beginning to join unions in order to secure equality and social justice.

Your leader writer is correct in saying that some employers are getting away with blatant exploitation of women and that the Government needs to act in order to ensure true equality.

Mags O’Brien

SIPTU College

563 South Circular Road

Dublin 8