GEO promises to reduce gender pay gap
Aug 14 2008
Reducing the disparity in pay between men and women is a key priority for the government, it is claimed.
A spokesperson for the Government Equalities Office (GEO) says reducing the gender pay gap would help women to become the primary earners of families.
This could in turn lead to changes in the way childcare is handled, as fathers might be able to take up bigger roles in looking after the family.
Up to six months of paid paternity leave would also help facilitate this, the spokesperson remarks.
In addition, the GEO claims the government has already worked hard to help parents, including offering the right for flexible working, increasing maternity leave provisions and improving the availability of childcare.
According to a study by Cambridge University, in the 1990s over 50 per cent of women and 51 per cent of men thought family life would not suffer if the mother was at work.
Now 46 per cent of women and 42 per cent of men take this view.
A spokesperson for the Government Equalities Office (GEO) says reducing the gender pay gap would help women to become the primary earners of families.
This could in turn lead to changes in the way childcare is handled, as fathers might be able to take up bigger roles in looking after the family.
Up to six months of paid paternity leave would also help facilitate this, the spokesperson remarks.
In addition, the GEO claims the government has already worked hard to help parents, including offering the right for flexible working, increasing maternity leave provisions and improving the availability of childcare.
According to a study by Cambridge University, in the 1990s over 50 per cent of women and 51 per cent of men thought family life would not suffer if the mother was at work.
Now 46 per cent of women and 42 per cent of men take this view.