Lesson 19 - Government Attempts to Reduce Gender Inequalities

Learning Intentions (Pupils should be able to):

Describe what has been done by government to reduce gender inequality in society.

Harriet Harman MP, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and Minister for Women and Equality in last Labour Government

Long-Standing Legislation to Reduce Gender Inequalities

• Equal Pay Act 1970 (and amendments)

Made it illegal to pay women less than men for the same/equivalent job.

• Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (and amendments)

Made it illegal to discriminate against women in terms of employment and promotion (and other areas including training and harassment).

• Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) 1975

Introduced at the same time as Sex Discrimination to provide support to women in achieving gender equality. In 2006, EOC was incorporated into the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)

The job of Equality and Human Rights Commission (est. 2006) is to promote human rights and to create a fairer Britain. The EHRC do this by providing advice and guidance, by working to improve legislation and by promoting human rights issues. Equality and Human Rights Commission was formed with the merger of the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) and Disability Rights Commission.

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The Gender Equality Duty 2006

The Gender Equality Duty (GED) requires gender to be considered by all public bodies when deciding policy.

The duty requires more than simply the equal treatment for men and women. Public bodies must promote and take action to bring about gender equality, which involves:

• looking at issues for men and women

• understanding why inequalities exist and how to overcome them

• creating effective service provision for all, so that everyone can access services that meet their needs

The Gender Equality Act 2010

The Gender Equality Act (2010) aims to force employers to reveal how much male staff are paid compared with their female colleagues, in an effort to close the gender pay gap. However, the Con./Lib Dem Govt. are not happy with this aspect of the former Labour Government’s legislation and have made the practice voluntary instead.

The Equality Act also aims to tackle discrimination against a range of disadvantaged groups including the elderly, disabled people and those from lower social classes.

Question

Explain the way each has helped to reduce gender inequality:

- Equal Pay Act 1970

- Sex Discrimination Act 1975

- Equality and Human Rights Commission

- Gender Equality Duty

- The Gender Equality Act 2010

Reading: “Modern UK Social Issues” pages 50-59.