Working practices need to be overhauled to address the gender pay gap, says Patricia Murphy, and separation from a newborn baby is incredibly painful for many mothers, says Alison Watson
Alexandra Topping presents an admirable evidence-based analysis of the effect of government policy on parental leave for newborns (Journal, 11 February), and says that “until a progressive government does step up, companies and individuals will have to kickstart a cultural change” in working practices.
I would like to expand on the cultural change she refers to. Working practices in the UK need much more of an overhaul to address the gender pay gap: the key is to make these genuinely family-friendly. The structures and patterns in the world of work are still manmade, stemming from the postwar era of man as the breadwinner and woman as the homemaker. Studies have shown that flexible working hours, job shares and even the reduction of the working week all increase productivity, but preferential attitudes to “full-time” work still hold sway. This is what militates against economic equality for women with children in the current cultural climate.
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