Figures reveal blight of low pay on female part-time workers in North West

Women working part-time across the North West are struggling on low pay as research published today (Thursday 28 August) by the TUC shows that at least a third of women working part time earn less than the living wage. In parts of the North West, the problem is even greater, with nearly three quarters of all female part time workers in West Lancashire paid below the living wage – the highest of any local authority in the UK.

Today (28 August, which is two-thirds of the way through 2014) is effectively the last day this year that women working part-time get paid. This is because they earn just 66p for every pound earned by men working full-time (which is a pay gap of 34.2 per cent). One of the main reasons for this huge gender pay divide is the large concentration of women doing low-paid, part-time work, says the TUC.

Across the UK, around two in five part-time jobs pay less than the living wage. But TUC analysis of official figures from the House of Commons Library paints a dire picture of low paid part time work for women across the region. With West Lancashire the national high of 73.9%, in Pendle three in every five women (61.5%) working part-time are paid below the living wage whilst the majority of women working part time in St. Helen’s (56.2%), Blackburn with Darwen (54.3%), Bolton (50.2%) and Rochdale (50.1%) earn less than the living wage, which is currently £7.65 an hour.

Lancaster has the lowest proportion of women working part time for less than the living wage at just 33.4%, followed by Manchester on 34.1% and Preston on 24.8%. The fact that two-thirds of women working part-time now earn above the living wage in these areas shows what can be done when unions, employers and campaigners come together to tackle low pay, says the TUC.

With women accounting for almost three-quarters of Britain’s six-million strong part-time workforce, the lack of skilled, decently-paid, part-time jobs affects women’s pay and their career prospects far more than it does men, says the TUC.

The TUC would like to see more employers paying the living wage. This would help tackle the growing scourge of in-work poverty and make big inroads into closing what it sees as the scandalous 34 per cent part-time gender pay gap.

The TUC believes that local authorities should lead by example by becoming living wage employers themselves. Several local authorities in the North West, such as Preston, Blackpool Salford and Wirral are already living wage employers but many more need to become accredited, says the TUC.

At both central and local government level, employers can boost take-up of the living wage by encouraging private companies that win public contracts to pay a living wage to their staff. Just this week, the North West TUC has written to all North West local authorities to ask if they pay the living wage as part of a wider campaign on employment standards and if they will work together with them to become living wage employers.

The TUC also wants to see more jobs advertised on a part-time basis, ending the requirement that women have to be in post for six months before they have the right to request flexible working. Many women feel unable to ask about the possibility of a shorter working week during a job interview for fear it could adversely affect their chances of success, says the TUC.

North West TUC Regional Secretary Lynn Collins said: “In-work poverty is growing throughout the North West and it’s often women that bear the brunt of low pay.

“The living wage was created so that work can provide staff with a basic standard of living. But in places like West Lancashire and Pendle, most women working part-time are way off earning this. But they aren’t the only ones and the figures show that much more can be done across Chesire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside.

“Women would gain most from a greater take-up of the living wage by employers. Councils can lead the way by becoming living wage employers themselves. But they also need to work with local employers and unions to use the living wage to tackle in-work poverty throughout the area and we hope they will respond positively to the letters we have sent this week offering to do just that.”