Liberal Democrats Policy Briefing

WOMEN
Through a broad range of Government policies, the Liberal Democrats in Coalition Government are working to address the issues which affect women throughout their lives, from early years, through schooling, inside and outside the workplace, through parenthood and on to retirement and old age. We are proud that our involvement in the Coalition is making a positive impact on the lives of thousands of women.

Women and Work

Despite many decades of progress, women in the workplace still do not get a fair deal. Nearly 40 years after the Equal Pay Act, it is manifestly unfair that we still live in a society where for every pound earned by men, women will take home less than 85 pence. Similarly, in many sectors, women still face glass ceilings that damage their careers prospects and prevent companies from getting the most out of their workforce. For Liberal Democrats, recovery from the recession must not mean just going back to business as usual. What we need is real change for the better, change that really helps women. Cutting taxes for the lowest paid workers: Thanks for the Liberal Democrats, 4 million of the lowest earners pay no tax at all on their earnings, and by 2015 no one will pay tax on the first 10,000 they earn. Women make up the majority who are in low paid employment or working part time, and therefore are the people that will benefit the most from this Liberal Democrat policy. Flexible working: We have extended the right to request flexible working to all employees, which will benefit both women and men with, for example, childcare or caring responsibilities, by taking into account their needs. Flexible working enables businesses to draw on a wider pool of skills within the workforce, retain valued members of staff and improve morale and productivity within the organisation. It also makes it easier for women to return to the workforce after having children or acting as a carer. A government funded scheme will be set up to recruit and train 5,000 mentors specifically to provide tailored support for women setting up or growing their business. It will address a range of issues increasing raising confidence, access to finance, work life balance and working from home. The Work Programme: The Governments Work Programme will be built around the needs of individuals, so that women who are looking to get back into work especially single parents have the tailored support they need to make this aim a reality. Universal Credit: The universal credit will mean that it always pays to work. Women who have children and want to work part time, wont be penalised for doing so and will continue to receive support. People will get to keep more of their earnings for themselves and their families. It will lift children 450,000 children out of poverty and reduce the number of workless households by 300,000. Pay gap: We are asking employers to help tackle the gender pay gap by publishing equality data about their workforce on a voluntary basis. Employees are also now able to discuss their pay to ensure that it is fair, even when employment contracts are used to try to impose pay secrecy. Taken steps to close the pay gap between men and women; including measures to ensure that employers who are found to have discriminated on pay must conduct an equal pay audit. Companies will be required to compare the pay of men and women doing equal work. If any pay gaps are identified that cannot be satisfactorily explained on grounds other than gender, the company will be required to produce plans to eliminate them, giving everyone a fair deal. Allowed the use of hypothetical comparators in equal pay claims so that things can change in professions dominated by women and characterised by low pay.

This briefing contains Federal Liberal Democrat policies. The policies of the Scottish and Welsh Liberal Democrats and the Northern Ireland local party apply on issues which are their responsibility within our Federal policy-making structure. Published by Liberal Democrats, 8-10 Great George Street, London, SW1P 3AE.

Liberal Democrats Policy Briefing

Mentoring scheme: A 2m scheme in which 5,000 mentors will be recruited and trained specifically to provide tailored support for women setting up or growing their business. It will address a range of issues increasing raising confidence, access to finance, work life balance and working from home. Womens Business Council: The Womens Business Council has been set up, comprised of 10 women with an independent Chair to inform public policies that affect women in business and seek to improve the business environment for women to maximise profit and success. Representation: The Government strongly backed the Lord Davies report on womens representation on boards and is now working with business and others to ensure the recommendations are implemented effectively. The Cranfield Report, published on 12 October showed progress: there are now 12 all male boards, down from 21 a year ago, and female candidates achieving almost twice the rate of appointments at board level in the past year.

Women and Families

The first few years of a childs life are some of the most important, and Liberal Democrats believe we should be doing much more to help families during those first crucial years. This country lags behind the rest of Europe when it comes to enabling parents to spend meaningful time with their families. Shared parental leave will remove the rigid requirements that force women in particular to take long periods out of the workplace. Many mothers find it challenging to go back to work early, but feel that if they dont then their careers could suffer. Women very often feel judged whatever they choose. Liberal Democrats in Government are reforming the existing 12-month statutory maternity leave to allow parents to share the time between them so they can arrange family life in the way that suits them best. We have proposed a system of interchangeable parental leave, where fathers and mothers can share leave how they choose. This will give women - and men - much more flexibility when it comes to making decisions about looking after their young children. We have begun a consultation on extending this shared maternity and paternity leave entitlements to 19 months, which can be taken by either parent, and should be introduced in 2015. We have committed to 15 hours of free early education for 260,000 two year olds. This will help relieve childcare demands on parents, and ensure every child has the best possible start in life. We will provide 300 million for childcare support under Universal Credit, on top of the 2bn we already spend under the current system. The will allow around 80,000 additional families to benefit from childcare support. Currently childcare support is only available if you work 16 hours or more the Government is removing this rule so all families receiving Universal Credit will be eligible for financial help. Eligible families will be able to recover 70% of their childcare costs. Families with one child can still claim up to 122.50 per week, and parents with two children can claim up to 210 per week. Sure Start: We have ensured that there is enough money to retain a network of Sure Start Childrens Centres, accessible to all families but focused on those in greatest need. Local authorities continue to have statutory duties to ensure sufficient childrens places and to consult before opening, closing or significantly changing childrens centres. No Lib Dem council is closing a single Sure Start centre. Made an extra 400 million available in additional funding over the next four years to provide a weeks respite care to the almost one million carers who work over 50 hours a week.

Women in the Media

The Body Confidence campaign, launched by Lynne Featherstone MP and Jo Swinson MP, highlights the negative impact of unrealistic media representations of women and girls bodies. This has led to the founding of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Body Image and as Minister for Equalities Lynne has taken Body Confidence into the governments work on public health, mental health and well-being.
This briefing contains Federal Liberal Democrat policies. The policies of the Scottish and Welsh Liberal Democrats and the Northern Ireland local party apply on issues which are their responsibility within our Federal policy-making structure. Published by Liberal Democrats, 8-10 Great George Street, London, SW1P 3AE.

Liberal Democrats Policy Briefing

A group of experts have been convened to identify and tackle the causes of low levels of body confidence. We have also led talks with senior industry representatives with the power to influence young people - including sport and fitness, fashion and retail, youth and education, media and advertising, and the beauty sectors. Promoted a greater variety of shapes and sizes in the fashion industry by working with the British Fashion Council and design schools to ensure students are taught and judged on their ability to cut to a range of sizes and body types. Protecting children from body image pressures by ensuring children are taught age-appropriate modules on body image, health and media literacy We are committed to encouraging greater transparency and honesty in advertising by requiring adverts aimed at over 16s to clearly state when digital retouching has been used to alter the appearance of people.

Violence against women

Women should be able to feel safe wherever they are whether at home, at work or out and about in the community. Liberal Democrats are committed to providing the services that women and girls need, and in Government weve published our strategy to tackle Violence Against Women and Girls, which sets out what we can do to ensure that those who are at risk of suffering, or have suffered violence, can achieve their full potential and live fulfilled lives. Our Action Plan focuses on preventing violence from happening in the first place, supporting victims where violence does occur and ensuring that those responsible are brought to justice. We have already: Allocated more than 28 million for specialist services to tackle violence against women. Increase in grant funding to 10.5m over the next 3 years for rape support centres. For the first time, grants will be made to centres on a three-year basis, providing them with the financial certainty they need to build a sustainable presence. We will also developing new rape support centres in areas where there are gaps in provision. Opted into the EU Directive on Human Trafficking, a vital step in increasing the protection available to the victims of trafficking, as well as helping them to achieve justice. Piloting new powers for police called Domestic Violence Protection Orders in three police force areas Greater Manchester, West Mercia and Wiltshire for 12 months from summer 2011. 900,000 support for national helplines for women who have suffered domestic violence. 18.5m will be made available over the next three years through the MoJs Victim and Witness General Fund to provide support to vulnerable victims and witnesses. Violence against girls in gangs has remained hidden for too long. A new 1.2million fund will support victims of rape and sexual abuse by young people affected by gangs. This will include awareness-raising, providing skilled and sensitive support to victims and work to prevent these abuses happening in the first place. We are also piloting Clares Law which will allow women to find out if their partner has a persistent history of domestic violence.

Women and international development

As a country, we have a moral responsibility to help the worlds poorest people. If the UK fulfils that responsibility, we can get the rest of the wealthy countries to follow suit. It is a scandal that in the 21st century, over half a million women die during childbirth every year, a statistic which is made even more horrifying by the fact that most of these deaths are easily preventable. The position and wellbeing of mothers in every country in the world is vital, not only for the wellbeing of children, but for the long term prosperity and development of their communities. Yet the global community hasnt done enough to protect these women. We need to ensure that all babies are delivered safely and that all mothers, no
This briefing contains Federal Liberal Democrat policies. The policies of the Scottish and Welsh Liberal Democrats and the Northern Ireland local party apply on issues which are their responsibility within our Federal policy-making structure. Published by Liberal Democrats, 8-10 Great George Street, London, SW1P 3AE.

Liberal Democrats Policy Briefing

matter where they live, can have access to affordable maternity care, healthcare and education. Liberal Democrats have: Refocused our aid efforts to put the lives of women in developing countries at its heart. Committed to improving maternal and infant health, saving the lives of 50,000 mothers and 250,000 babies by 2015. We are improving access to family planning methods around the world, helping ten million more women in developing countries to access modern contraceptive methods. We are providing education to one million of the worlds poorest girls, and helping 2.3 million women to access jobs Focused on prioritising health and education programmes, promoting gender equality and tackling the spread of major diseases like HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria Awarded 20 million of funding to support UN Women as it establishes itself as an agency. Stood firm by the UKs commitments to developing countries by increasing the UKs aid budget to reach the UN target of 0.7% of Gross National Income. Appointed Lynne Featherstone MP as International Violence Against Women Champion, which will see her lead British efforts to tackle violence against women overseas. Among women between the ages of 15 and 44, acts of violence cause more death and disability than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents and war combined. It is truly one of the most pervasive human rights violations in the world today, and we believe that Britain has a duty to use its influence across the globe to shine a light on this issue. Lynne Featherstone hosted the first ever UN event on body confidence in March 2012, taking the campaign internationally and supported by UN Women.

Women and Representation

Our public and political life benefit when we include people who reflect the communities they serve and who bring the benefits of a diverse set of experiences. Effective teams need variety and diversity, so having women involved in decision-making at all levels and in all sectors isnt just about fairness, but makes good business sense as well. In order to increase the numbers of women in public life, we are committed to looking at ways to achieve sustainable cultural change within organisations. In Business: Commissioned Lord Davies report on the barriers to increasing diversity on boards. In Government: The Strengthening Womens Voices consultation sets our proposals for a new approach to how Government listens to and engages with women, bringing their voices into the policy-making process. In Parliament: All three major Parties struggle with the issue of the under-representation of women in Parliament, and are taking steps to address this. The Liberal Democrats have just launched a new Leadership Programme, which identifies, promotes and supports talented candidates from under-represented groups who want to apply for the most promising seats in this electoral cycle. Women make up 68% of the group on the Programme. The Liberal Democrats also support ministerial job-shares as a way to progressing the careers of Parliamentarians who have caring responsibilities.

March 2012

This briefing contains Federal Liberal Democrat policies. The policies of the Scottish and Welsh Liberal Democrats and the Northern Ireland local party apply on issues which are their responsibility within our Federal policy-making structure. Published by Liberal Democrats, 8-10 Great George Street, London, SW1P 3AE.