Inequality is still going to work

**You may be under the impression that gender equality has been achieved and that there is no need to concern ourselves with fighting for equality.**

The introduction of extensive equality legislation, such as the _Equality Act of 2010_ has been designed with the purpose of eliminating inequality and discrimination in the workplace. However, legislation does not and cannot deal with all aspects of discrimination. We must look beyond legislation if we want to tackle discrimination at its core.

It just takes one look at the statistics to see the true extent of inequality in Britain’s workplaces. The _Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings_ (ASHE) estimates that the gender pay gap currently stands at 9.6 percent. Admittedly, this is a slight improvement on 2011 when the gap was 10.5 percent, but it still shows how progress has been unacceptably slow. It is hard to believe that, even after 43 years of pay equality legislation, women are still earning less than men.

{{ quote Research has shown that women of a childbearing age are less likely to be recruited or promoted in comparison to their male counterparts. }}

However, inequality on the whole is the result of informal customs which are upheld by a patriarchal society. The glass ceiling is one of these and is a term used to describe how women get to a certain point on the career ladder but then never seem to progress beyond that. Research has shown that women of a childbearing age are less likely to be recruited or promoted in comparison to their male counterparts, because many employers want to avoid potential maternity leave costs, an example of blatant sexism.

Besides, women are seen as uncommitted if they are not available at short notice but this is unreasonable as they usually bear the responsibility for childcare. Yet, our workplace culture is centred on these extra expressions of commitment. Workers are seen as more efficient and their achievements are recognised more often if they are visible in the workplace. Research has suggested that France may have a higher proportion of women executives because of their public sector childcare provision which makes childcare more affordable than in the UK.

However, improving childcare will not help equality if the ‘jobs for the boys’ mentality still persists.
The only way to rid our workplaces of inequality is to completely change the attitudes of employers towards women, along with dividing childcare responsibilities more equally between men and women.