
The Women and Work APPG provides a forum to constructively examine and debate the role that policy makers can play to deliver gender balance within the economy.
About the Group
While in recent years we have seen a change in the way that UK businesses work to increase the number of women recruited into the workforce, women still face financial hardship and barriers when it comes to employment. The issue is not just about getting women into work but ensuring retention of female employees by rapidly improving workplace systems and infrastructures to enable women to thrive. We aim to take an intersectional approach to women in the workplace, enabling all women to succeed and be valued in their chosen area of work.
This year we will look at a variety of issues that impact women’s earning potential, including maternity costs, pension inequality, post-maternity pay freeze and the need for better gender pay reporting and pay transparency to assess and quantify, where possible, what “the cost of being a woman at work” is.
So let’s take a glance at the current situation:
In only April 2021, the gender pay gap was still high at 15.4%, moreover a report by the 50Plus Choices Employer Taskforce found that a quarter of women consider leaving work due to symptoms experienced from the menopause, that consequently will decrease their pensions, further adding to the issue of pension inequality. New studies by London’s South Bank University highlighted that half the women surveyed explained that maternity leave had negatively effected their carer. Additionally, research suggests that the percentage of women employed in tech in the UK has barely moved from 15.7% in 2009 to 17% in 2021, highlighting the serious need of the government and employers to take levelling up for women as a high priority. This is because women, especially black and ethnically minoritised women, were hit extremely hard by the ongoing pandemic.
These statistics highlight the need to act now, showing the ever more important work of this APPG.
Ultimately, only by addressing the challenges and costs faced can we help ensure women don’t get penalised financially further and can pave the way for women in the workplace to be treated as valued employees.
We welcome all to our discussions to advocate for this positive change.
Group chair
Chair
Jess Phillips MP, Birmingham Yardley, Labour
jessphillips.net
@jessphillips
Jess Phillips has been the Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley since 2015. She has committed her life to improve the lives of others, especially the most vulnerable, and spent five years working for Women’s Aid supporting and defending women. Jess became a councillor in 2012 through the Labour Future Candidates Programme. In this role she worked tirelessly to support residents, with her work being recognised when she became Birmingham’s first-ever Victims Champion.
Chair
Flick Drummond MP, Meon Valley, Conservative
Flick Drummond is a British Conservative Party politician. She has been the Member of Parliament for Meon Valley since 2019, having previously represented Portsmouth South from 2015 to 2017. She was a member of the Women and Equalities Select Committee and set up the Women and Work APPG. She also established the Cybersecurity APPG. In 2019 she stood down as the Conservative candidate to become the Hampshire Police and crime commissioner in the 2020 England and Wales police and crime commissioner elections. In 2020 she was the Parliamentary Private Secretary to Anne-Marie Trevelyan as Secretary of State for International Development.
Information on all the group’s officers can be found here.
News & Views
Women and Work APPG announces 2020 Theme: Women’s wellbeing in the workplace
The Women and Work APPG is proud to announce that in 2020 our theme will be women’s wellbeing in the workplace. Traditionally, wellbeing in the workplace has been concerned with the physical and psychological health of employees.
Women and Work APPG announces 2019 Theme: Inclusivity and Intersectionality
The Women and Work APPG is delighted to announce its 2019 theme Inclusivity and Intersectionality. Throughout our work over the past three years the we have sought to recognise and highlight the fact that women are not a homogenous group, and that a focus on gender alone can sometimes be misleading.
MPs demand action on fair recruitment
A cross-party group of MPs and Peers is calling on businesses and employers to review their recruitment process and have suggested changes to make it fairer.
View the The Women and Work All Party Parliamentary Group Updates Archive »
The Pension Gap
We are pleased to invite you to the APPG on Women and Work: The Pension Gap, which will take place on 18th of July from 5:30-6:30pm.
Location: Room O, Portcullis House, and streamed virtually, and streamed virtually. If you are attending in person, please allow up to 30 minutes to clear security.
Chair: Flick Drummond MP
The gender pension gap is the percentage difference in pension income for female pensioners compared to male pensioners. The average woman would have to work an extra 37 years to bridge the gendered gap in the average pensions savings. The pension gap continues to exist as a result of levels of pensions awareness, a disproportionate number of women in lower paying jobs and the so called ‘caregiver-penalty’. This gap is particularly detrimental because it starts to affect women when there is little they can do about it, given how little attention there is on the subject.
This session aims at exploring the imbalance in the level of occupational and private pension saving between men and women, the impact that taking breaks from paid employment or reducing hours worked to look after family and the cumulative impact over time of women earning less on average than men (the gender pay gap) can have on women.
Additional info: In person attendance is allocated on a first come first served basis, please email womenandworkappg@connectpa.co.uk to request a space, and allow up to 30 minutes for security on the day. The Zoom link is open to everyone through registration on our website.
Register to attend
Group materials
Income and Expenditure 2022; Women and Work
Women’s Wellbeing at Work – the Women and Work APPG annual report 2020
Inclusivity and Intersectionality – the Women and Work APPG annual report and toolkit 2019
How to Recruit Women for the 21st Century – the Women and Work APPG Annual report and toolkit 2018
Making the Industrial Strategy work for women – the Women and Work APPG Annual Report 2017 Women returners – the Women and Work APPG Annual Report 2016 Coverage of the report launch
Minutes
2022
Facing the Entrepreneurial Gap – May 2022
Menopause in the workplace – March 2022
Gender pay gap reporting and pay gap transparency – February 2022
What does good employment look – December 2021
Tackling Diversity Issues in Male-Dominated Industries – November 2021
Preparing Women for the Fourth Industrial Revolution – July 2021
Women in work: Childcare and Caring Responsibilities – June 2021
Securing the Future of Women’s Work: Making Flexible Working a Reality – May 2021
Securing the Future of Women’s Work – April 2021
Financial Wellbeing – January 2021
Income & Expenditure Form – 2020 -21
For older minutes, please click here.
Other materials
Contact the Group
If you have any questions or would like to find out more about the Group, please contact the Group’s secretariat at womenandworkappg@connectpa.co.uk.
This is not an official website of the House of Commons or the House of Lords. It has not been approved by either House or its committees. All-Party Parliamentary Groups are informal groups of Members of both Houses with a common interest in particular issues. The views expressed in these webpages are those of the group.
Group Sponsors
The Group is supported by a range of organisations across the business world who help fund the running of the Group via its secretariat, Connect. Information on all the Group’s sponsors can be found here. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor of the Group please contact womenandworkappg@connectpa.co.uk.
Sign up for updates
If you would like to receive notification of forthcoming Group meetings please enter your details below: