Over 50,000 working mums respond to new TUC survey on challenges of managing work and childcare during lockdown
Working mums report huge levels of anxiety and stress following school closures
TUC calls for an emergency temporary right to furlough for working parents – and for government to promote this new right to mums and dads
Nearly three-quarters (71%) of working mums who have applied for furlough following the latest school closures have had their requests turned down, according to a new TUC survey carried out in the past week and published today (Thursday).
The job retention scheme currently allows bosses to furlough parents who can’t work due to a lack of childcare.
But the TUC says many mums are missing out on this financial lifeline as the scheme is not promoted to parents.
The union body is also concerned some employers are refusing to furlough those who request it, leaving mums in an impossible situation where they are forced to reduce their hours at work, take unpaid leave and annual leave to cope, or leave their job altogether.
TUC survey
Last week, the TUC and campaigner Mother Pukka launched a call for evidence for working mums to share their experiences of how they are managing their work and childcare commitments during lockdown.
More than 50,000 mums got in touch – an unprecedented response to a survey of this kind.
Of those working mums who contacted the TUC:
Nearly three-quarters (71%) who asked for furlough had their requests refused.
Most (78%) hadn’t been offered furlough by their employers.
And 2 in 5 (40%) of all mums who replied were unaware that the furlough scheme was available to parents affected by school or nursery closures.
Impact on working mums
Working mums told the TUC they were struggling with the strain of being expected to carry out their jobs as normal, while balancing childcare and home-schooling. They were also concerned about being treated badly by their employers as a result:
Nearly all (90%) of those who replied said that their anxiety and stress levels had increased during this latest lockdown.
And almost half (48%) were worried about being treated negatively by their employers because of their childcare responsibilities.
Financial strain
Around half (44%) of mums told the TUC they were worried about the impact having to take time off work would have on their household finances.
A quarter (25%) of mums were using annual leave to manage their childcare – but nearly 1 in 5 (18%) had been forced to reduce their working hours and around 1 in 14 (7%) were taking unpaid leave from work and receiving no income.
An emergency right to furlough
The TUC says that the UK’s inadequate system of parental leave and woefully low level of sick pay is leaving parents in impossible situations, where they risk losing their job or facing a catastrophic loss of income.
To support these workers, the TUC is calling on ministers to introduce a temporary right to furlough for groups who cannot work because of coronavirus restrictions – both parents and those who are clinically extremely vulnerable and required to shield. And ministers should clarify that furlough can be used by both private and public sector employers for these purposes.
The union body says employers should first explore with parents and those shielding whether other measures – such as offering additional paid leave, changes to working hours or other flexibilities like working from home, and offering alternative work – could help the worker balance their responsibilities, but that as a last resort, workers should have the right to be furloughed.
Ministers should encourage employers to use the furlough scheme for parents and those shielding where other arrangements cannot be made, and run a major advertising campaign so that parents and shielders understand that they can use furlough.
The TUC says this situation results from the UK’s failure to help families balance paid work and childcare. Alongside a temporary right to furlough, it is calling on the government to introduce:
Ten days’ paid carers leave, from day one in a job, for all parents. Currently parents have no statutory right to paid leave to look after their children.
A right to flexible work for all parents. Flexible working can take lots of different forms, including having predictable or set hours, working from home, job-sharing, compressed hours and term-time working.
An increase in sick pay to at least the level of the real Living Wage, for everyone in work, to ensure workers can afford to self-isolate if they need to.
Newly self-employed parents to have access the self-employment income support scheme (SEISS).
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:“The safety of school staff and children must always come first. But the government’s lack of support for working parents is causing huge financial hardship and stress – and hitting low-paid mums and single parents hardest.
“Just like in the first lockdown, mums are shouldering the majority of childcare. Tens of thousands of mums have told us they are despairing. It’s neither possible nor sustainable for them to work as normal, while looking after their children and supervising schoolwork.
“Making staff take weeks of unpaid leave isn’t the answer. Bosses must do the right thing and offer maximum flexibility to mums and dads who can’t work because of childcare. And as a last resort, parents must have a temporary right to be furloughed where their boss will not agree.
“The UK’s parental leave system is one of the worst in Europe. It’s time for the government to give all parents the right to work flexibly, plus at least ten days’ paid carers leave each year.”
Founder of Mother Pukka Anna Whitehouse said: “What working parents have been tasked with in lockdown is not humanly possible. You’re looking at an average eight hour working day, six hour school day, 12 hours of parenting wrapped around that – that’s 26 hours in a 24 hour day. And I’m hearing daily from women who are stepping back, standing down and logging off because they’re burning out.
“Some are quitting out of choice, many not. Because who looks after kids home-schooling? Who looks after pandemic patients when out of hospital? Who takes a Tesco shop to elderly neighbours? Who runs community What’s App groups making sure everyone has everything they need?
“This unpaid labour is mainly strapped to female shoulders because – for all the International Women’s Days Sellotaped together – that’s the current working world we live in.
“One thing that can change right now is seeing the Government supporting all businesses to enable them to offer a much more flexible solution and furlough. The system needs to step up for parents before we step back to the 1950s.”
Founder and CEO of Pregnant Then Screwed Joeli Brearley said: “The parents of young children are currently being asked to either sacrifice their income or their child’s education and care; placing them in an impossible situation.
“We know that this burden is predominantly falling to mothers, and the consequences for maternal employment will be disastrous.
“What we are seeing here is a cry for help on a massive scale. Our advice lines are awash with mothers who have no idea how to care for their children and maintain their paid employment when their employer is refusing to furlough them.
“This is an emergency and if the government doesn’t step in soon there will be a generational roll back in maternal employment that will take us decades to repair.”
The High Pay Centre’s ‘High Pay Day’ research, published this week, is evidence that the government must rebalance the economy after Covid-19 to make it fair, says the TUC.
High Pay Day is the day in 2021 on which the typical FTSE 100 chief executive has already earned the same as the average wage for a whole year.
The research finds that top bosses earn around 120 times the annual pay of the average worker.
High Pay Centre’s research suggests that the median FTSE 100 CEOs earnings for 2021 surpassed the median annual wage for a full-time worker in the UK at around 5:30 pm on Wednesday 6 January.
The calculations are based on our previous analysis of CEO pay disclosures in companies annual reports, combined with government statistics showing pay levels across the UK economy.
HPC estimate that with CEO pay levels remaining essentially flat in their analysis, while pay for UK workers had increased slightly, it means that CEOs have to work 34 hours of the year to surpass median earnings, rather than just 33 hours in 2020.
However, the most recent figures on CEO pay and UK full time workers’ annual earnings is still too dated to fully account for the impact of the coronavirus – therefore it remains to be seen how this has affected pay gaps across the UK, both over the duration of the pandemic and in the longer term.
Pay for top CEOs today is about 120 times that of the typical UK worker. Estimates suggest it was around 50 times at the turn of the millennium or 20 times in the early 1980s.
Factors such as the increasing role played by the finance industry in the economy, the outsourcing of low-paid work and the decline of trade union membership have widened the gaps between those at the top and everybody else over recent decades.
These figures will raise concern about the governance of big businesses and whether major employers are distributing pay in a way that rewards the contribution of different workers fairly. They should also prompt debate about the effects that high levels of inequality can have on social cohesion, crime, and public health and wellbeing.
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “This tells you everything you need to know about how unfair our economy is.
“Our army of minimum wage workers – carers, shop assistants and delivery drivers – have kept the country going through the pandemic. Not these CEO’s at the top raking in far more than their share.
“We must make the economy fair. If the government is serious about levelling up Britain, it needs to start by levelling up pay and conditions for those we most rely on, and stop the threat to freeze key workers’ pay.
“Ministers must bring forward the long-awaited employment bill to end expoitative working practices like zero hours contracts, and boost rights and pay.”
On Monday Boris Johnson, in response to mounting evidence and calls to take urgent steps to protect the public, announced a new lockdown, the third we’ve had to date. The government must ensure that those asked to shield are able to do so (writes TUC’s Quinn Roache).
New strains of coronavirus are spreading like wildfire.
The new strain of the virus is 50% to 70% more transmissible and levels of infections are increasing to record levels, leading to huge strains on hospitals across the country.
Disabled people make up the majority of those who have died from Covid-19 – government statistics show that disabled people accounted for 3 in 5 covid-19 deaths. This is why it is imperative that, going into this new lockdown, disabled people who are told to shield can do so effectively.
Impact
This new lockdown is having a tangible impact on everyone. It impacts on many workers physical and mental health as well as livelihoods and income.
This is particularly true of those who’ve been asked to shield. A group the government have termed ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’, which means they have a higher risk of severe illness if infected.
Evidence suggests that in England this group is almost 4% of the population, or 1 in 25 people, and that they are disproportionately more likely to be disabled.
Disabled workers previously asked to shield told the TUC they felt forgotten and overlooked. They told us that the first lockdown left them isolated, without access to basic needs like food and a negative impact on both their physical and mental health1.
The government must do better this time.
Government advice to those who should shield
Their guidance is that those advised to shield should no longer attend work, school, college or university.
And that they should limit the time they spend outside their home, only going out for medical appointments, exercise or if it is essential.
Shield confirmation
Many people asked to shield will have done so already and they and their employers will have a good understanding of how to proceed throughout this lockdown.
However, it is important for employers and workers to understand the changing nature of the shielding group.
Since the start of the pandemic, workers will have come on and off the shielding list as their health conditions have changed. For example, those who were newly diagnosed with cancer and are undergoing active chemotherapy would have only just be put on the shielding list.
To avoid any confusion, everyone who needs to shield will be sent a letter by the government to confirm their shield status. However, receiving confirmation you should shield has not been a seamless process in the past.
In the first lockdown many people who were at very high risk from the virus were not on the list of those who should shield and, as a result, did not receive a letter advising them to do so.
Government guidance says, a GP or hospital clinician can add individuals to the Shielded Patient List if, based on their clinical judgement, they deem to them be at higher risk of serious illness if they catch the virus.
Workers who do not receive a letter telling them shield but who think they should be on the list should speak to their clinician or GP.
Furlough
It is vital that workers advised to shield should stay at home to protect their health, however, being told to shield and being able to afford to do so are two different things.
We’ve been told that although employers have access to the furlough scheme not all of them are using it so often those most at risk from the virus, are not being furloughed.
Employers should ensure that shielding workers who cannot work from home are offered an alternative role they can fulfil from home. Failing that, shielding workers should be furloughed.
Workers told to shield from any sector, public, private or the charity/third sector, who can not work from home but cannot return to the workplace must be furloughed. And to ensure this group’s health, the job retention scheme should be open to workers who live with someone told to shield and who cannot work from home.
Nobody should be losing pay as a result of an existing health condition and NHS advice to shield. No one should have to choose between their life and livelihood.
This is why the government, upon the urging of unions, has extended the job retention scheme to the end of April 2021 and which means furloughed workers will continue to receive up to 80% of their salary up to £2,500 which employers can claim back from the government. Employers can, and we believe should where they can afford it, top up wages to 100 per cent.
The government must also make sure benefits like statutory sick pay and universal credit pay the real living wage. It must repair the UK’s safety net as far too many people, around 14 million, were already living in poverty before the virus struck. Disabled people are disproportionality effected by this as nearly half of all people living in poverty in the UK are disabled themselves or live with someone who is.
People who lose their jobs must get the support they need to make ends meet and to get back on their feet.
Without fixing these benefits, many risk being plunged into poverty.
TUC recommendations
The TUC is calling on all employers to:
ensure that shielding workers who cannot work from home are offered an alternative role they can fulfil from home. Failing that, shielding workers should be furloughed.
The TUC is calling on the government to:
raise the basic level of Universal Credit for the duration of the outbreak to 80% of the real living wage – or £260 a week
raise sick pay from £94 a week to the equivalent of a week’s pay at the Real Living Wage – around £320 a week.
In her New Year message, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady thanks key workers for keeping the country running through the pandemic. And she calls on the government to invest in levelling up all parts of the UK and achieving full employment:
Amid the grief and hardship of the pandemic, 2020 will be remembered for everyone together out on the doorstep to celebrate our key workers.
We all knew who kept this country running through the pandemic. Not hedge fund chiefs, corporate outsourcing giants or government ministers.
But supermarket staff, delivery drivers, telecoms workers, bus drivers, social care workers, health professionals and all our key workers.
Ordinary working people stepping up to do their jobs in extraordinary times.
And yet, even as we applauded them, this government let them down.
Leaving them to struggle in services threadbare after ten years of austerity cuts, too often short staffed and with inadequate PPE. And then, adding insult to injury, freezing their pay.
So our wish for 2021 can be expressed in two short words: recover and reset.
New Year hope comes in the form of a vaccine, created by brilliant scientists and delivered by our precious NHS.
And this is the time to genuinely level up across the UK
But to do that, government must come up with a realistic plan.
The chaos has to stop.
This festive season, across much of the country, pubs and restaurants are silent, high streets deserted, theatres closed and whole sectors in limbo. We face another national lockdown.
With the new strain of the virus spreading so fast, the roll-out of the vaccine must be more comprehensive and faster too – before a real recovery is possible.
And all at a time when trade with our nearest neighbours in the EU is set to become more expensive and more bureaucratic.
Working people, and the businesses that employ them, urgently need transparency and security.
We need to know that government will do what it takes to support working families – protect the NHS, save jobs and get the economy back on its feet.
Throughout 2020’s national crisis, the UK’s trade union movement worked hard to protect livelihoods, and to support public health. We can be proud of the jobs we saved and the workplaces we made safe.
Now we must make Britain’s economic goal for 2021 full and decent employment. We cannot afford the cost of mass unemployment. It is never a price worth paying.
The chancellor must guarantee full furlough until we are through the crisis.
He must invest in good new jobs – in the green tech we need to tackle climate change and in the public services we all rely on.
And to smooth the disruption of the government’s third-rate Brexit deal, he needs to boost UK manufacturing with a £10bn recovery fund to create good new jobs.
Real recovery must mean higher living standards for working families – not just those the top. So we need to reset our country too.
Reset our labour market – banning the zero hours contracts that keep workers poor and powerless. Delivering the enhanced rights at work that ministers have long promised.
Reset raging inequality so that those with most pay their fair share, everyone earns enough to live on, no child need go hungry and public services are properly funded.
Reset regional divides – levelling up our country and bringing good jobs and investment to the parts of the country that need them most.
And government must act to end the systemic racism that harms Black and ethnic minority workers and families. Whatever our race, religion or background, all working people deserve dignity and fairness at work.
Recover and reset. That’s how we build a society that works for everyone.
In 2021, trade unions will be out there fighting for that vision, for our members, and for all working people.
I wish you, your family and workmates happiness, good health and security in 2021 and always.
The TUC has released analysis that shows an Amazon warehouse worker would take over eight weeks, or 293 hours, to earn what Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos makes in a second.
The analysis is based on reports of Bezos’ earnings this year. Last year, using his 2019 earnings, the TUC estimated it would take an Amazon warehouse worker over five weeks to earn what Bezos makes in a second. The marked increase to eight weeks this year reflects the enormous takings of the internet giant during the coronavirus pandemic.
In 2020 Amazon has seen its market value rocket, registering US $96 billion (£72 billion) in revenue for the third quarter alone – equivalent to nearly £33 million an hour. And Jeff Bezos’ personal wealth has also skyrocketed, making him the first person ever to be worth US $200 billion (£149 billion).
The eight weeks figure is considered a conservative estimate, as Bezos’ Black Friday and Christmas earnings are yet to be released in what the Amazon CEO himself expects to be “an unprecedented holiday season”.
Despite huge profits, workers at Amazon describe gruelling conditions, unrealistic productivity targets, surveillance, bogus self-employment and a refusal to recognise or engage with unions unless forced.
According to the GMB Union, between 2015 and 2018, ambulances were called out 600 times to 14 Amazon warehouses in Britain due to workers collapsing in unsafe, high-pressure working conditions.
The TUC is calling on the government to bring forward its long-awaited employment bill to clamp down on the poor working practices rife in workplaces like Amazon, and to strengthen trade unions and collective bargaining.
The union body is calling for:
unions to be allowed into every workplace
a ban on zero hours contracts
stronger joint liability laws to protect supply chain workers’ rights
an end to bogus self-employment
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:
“Amazon’s bumper profits mean Christmas has come early for Jeff Bezos. Yet many of his staff continue to work in gruelling, exploitative conditions.
“Amazon workers have played a key role during this pandemic. The very least they deserve is dignity at work.
“If the government is serious about levelling up Britain, it needs to start by levelling up pay and conditions.
“Ministers must get on with bringing forward the long-awaited employment bill to end exploitative working practices like zero hours contracts and boost rights and pay.“
Earlier this year, the TUC called on government to use its purchasing power to stand up to Amazon on workers’ rights, as it published new analysis which showed up to £630 million of government money spent on contracts with Amazon in recent years.
The Minister for Women and Equalities, Liz Truss, has set out the UK Government’s new approach to tackling inequality across the UK:
No matter your skin colour, sexuality, religion or anything else, the United Kingdom is one of the best places in the world to live.
The British story has been driven from its earliest days by the desire for liberty, agency, and fairness.
It is the notion that in Britain you will have the opportunity to succeed at whatever you wish to do professionally, that you can be whoever you want to be. Dress however you want to dress. Love whoever you wish to love and achieve your dreams.
But we must be honest. Our story is not yet complete. Our equality journey is not yet finished.
For too many people, particularly in places beyond the South East, opportunity is diminished.
For years, successive governments have either pretended that all opportunity was equal or failed to come up with proper solutions, paying lip service to a problem that has festered for decades.
It was this government that finally tore down this social taboo when we were elected to level-up the country and toppled the Red Wall turning it Blue.
We were elected partly on the promise of fixing the scourge of geographic inequality, and ensuring equal opportunity for all. There are still too many cases where your destination in life is decided by where you started it. So today, I am outlining a new approach to equality in this country.
This will be founded firmly on Conservative values.
It will be about individual dignity and humanity, not quotas and targets, or equality of outcome.
It will reject the approach taken by the Left, captured as they are by identity politics and loud lobby groups.
It will focus fiercely on fixing geographic inequality, addressing the real problems people face in their everyday lives using evidence and data.
If you were born in Wolverhampton or Darlington, you have been under-served by successive governments. No more.
Things must change and things will change.
This new approach to equality will run through the DNA of this government.
The moral and practical case for equality
For me, it is a moral and practical mission.
Just as our forebears fought for change, we must fight for change again – challenging what is unfair and unjust today.
It is not right that having a particular surname or accent can sometimes make it harder to get a job.
It is appalling that pregnant women suffer discrimination at work. Or that women may be encouraged to dress in a certain way to get ahead.
Or that some employers overlook the capabilities of people with disabilities.
It is outrageous in the 21st century that LGBT people still face harassment in public spaces.
As well as being a moral problem, it is shameful we are squandering so much talent.
If women opened businesses at the same rate as men – we could add £250bn to the economy.
If people of every ethnic group were fully represented across the labour market, that would mean an extra £24 billion of income a year.
If businesses were fully accessible for disabled consumers, they could benefit from an estimated £274 billion a year in spending power.
We can ill afford to waste this potential as we recover from Covid and build back better.
Equality rooted in Conservative values
Our new approach to equality will be based on the core principles of freedom, choice, opportunity, and individual humanity and dignity.
We will move well beyond the narrow focus of protected characteristics and deliver real change that benefits people across our United Kingdom.
We will do this in three ways.
First, by delivering fairness through modernisation, increased choice and openness.
Second, by concentrating on data and research, rather than on campaigning and listening to those with the loudest voices.
And third, by taking our biggest and broadest look yet at the challenges we face, including the all too neglected scourge of geographic inequality.
Now is the time to root the equality debate in the real concerns people face, like affording a home, getting to work, going out safely at night, ending discrimination in our offices, factories and shop floors, and improving our schools so every child has a good chance in life.
It is our duty to deliver, because if right-thinking people do not lead the fight for fairness, then it will be led by those whose ideas don’t work.
The failed ideas of the Left
The ideas that have dominated the equality debate have been long in the making.
As a comprehensive school student in Leeds in the 1980s, I was struck by the lip service that was paid to equality by the City Council while children from disadvantaged backgrounds were let down.
While we were taught about racism and sexism, there was too little time spent making sure everyone could read and write.
These ideas have their roots in post-modernist philosophy – pioneered by Foucault – that put societal power structures and labels ahead of individuals and their endeavours.
In this school of thought, there is no space for evidence, as there is no objective view – truth and morality are all relative.
Rather than promote policies that would have been a game-changer for the disenfranchised like better education and business opportunities, there was a preference for symbolic gestures.
Even now, authorities rush to embrace symbols – for example, Birmingham City Council naming new streets “Diversity Grove” and “Equality Road” – as if that counts as real change.
Underlying this is the soft bigotry of low expectations, where people from certain backgrounds are not expected to reach high standards.
This diminishes their individual humanity, dignity and agency.
And it hasn’t delivered the progress it promised.
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In addition, this focus on groups at the expense of individuals has led to harmful unintended consequences.
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Study after study has shown that unconscious bias training does not improve equality, and in fact can backfire by reinforcing stereotypes and exacerbating biases.
That’s why this week we announced we will no longer be using it in government or civil service.
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By contrast, the Conservative Party has elected two female leaders, and has a Cabinet with the highest ever level of ethnic minority representation.
We have done this not by positively discriminating, but by positively empowering people who want to go into politics and opening up our Party to people of all backgrounds. Because when you choose on the basis of protected characteristics, you end up excluding other people.
1. Fairness, not favouritism
Fairness, not favouritism, drives our approach to equality.
Too often, the equality debate has been dominated by a small number of unrepresentative voices, and by those who believe people are defined by their protected characteristic, and not by their individual character.
This school of thought says that if you are not from an ‘oppressed group’ then you are not entitled to an opinion, and that this debate is not for you.
I wholeheartedly reject this approach.
Equality is something everybody in the United Kingdom should care about and something all of us have a stake in.
So, I am calling time on “pink bus” feminism, where women are left to fix sexism and campaign for childcare.
Rather than virtue signalling, or campaigning, this government is focused on delivering a fairer and more transparent society that works for all and that delivers genuine equality of opportunity.
The work of American academic Iris Bohnet shows that modernising and making organisations more transparent is the best way to tackle inequality.
When things are opaque, it benefits those who know how to game the system.
We know that when companies publish their wage ranges, it leads to more equal starting points for men and women.
We know that automatic promotions based on performance help level up opportunities for women in the workplace, overcoming the barriers that make women less likely to put themselves forward for promotion.
And we know that evidence-driven recruitment in a clear and open structure is more effective than using informal and ad hoc networks.
On the other hand, techniques like unconscious bias training, quotas and diversity statements do nothing to make the workplace fundamentally fairer.
By driving reforms that increase competition, boost transparency and improve choice, we can open up opportunities.
This is the approach we will be taking across government.
It is fundamentally important that the role of equality minister is held by someone who also has another cabinet job, as I do with trade.
This ensures equality is not siloed, but is instead the responsibility of the whole government and all our elected representatives.
For example, the Academies Act 2010 meant good free schools were established across England and more children had the opportunity of a great education. The 1980 Housing Act empowered over two million people to get on the housing ladder, and the independent taxation of women in 1988 gave wives control of their own money.
All of these reforms promoted equality by giving people greater agency over their own lives and making systems more transparent.
For example, we know that students from poorer backgrounds are more likely to achieve better grades than they were predicted, and they lose out in the current university admissions system which is based on predicted grades.
That is why Gavin Williamson is right to base the university admissions system on the actual grades students achieve, making sure that students from lower income backgrounds have a fairer shot at university.
In the workplace, we know that flexible working improves productivity and helps people to combine work with other responsibilities.
That is why I will be working with Alok Sharma, the Business Secretary, to enable more flexible working – not just as a necessity amid the Covid crisis but to empower employees.
The best way to reduce unfairness in our society is through opening up opportunities for all.
This is the level playing field we should be talking about.
And we are going to make sure that this level playing field is properly enforced.
That is why I am appointing a new chair and a wide variety of commissioners to the Equality and Human Rights Commission to drive this agenda forward.
I am proud we have Baroness Kishwer Falkner, David Goodhart, Jessica Butcher, Su-Mei Thompson and Lord Ribeiro, all of whom are committed to equality and ready to challenge dangerous groupthink.
Under this new leadership, the EHRC will focus on enforcing fair treatment for all, rather than freelance campaigning.
2. Facts, not fiction
To make our society more equal, we need the equality debate to be led by facts not by fashion.
Time and time again, we see politicians making their own evidence-free judgements.
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My superb colleague Kemi Badenoch is leading work on the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, established by the Prime Minister.
We should heed the warning from its chair, Dr Tony Sewell, who wrote last month that they have uncovered “a perception of racism that is often not supported by evidence” and that “wrong perceptions sow mistrust”.
This does not mean we don’t recognise people’s stories about their individual lives or believe that their experiences of discrimination are not real. It means that we can and must have an equality agenda that is driven by evidence.
Today I am announcing that the Equality Hub will embark on the Government’s biggest, broadest and most comprehensive equality data project yet, and it will closely coordinate with the work of CRED (Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities).
Over the coming months, we will look across the UK to identify where people are held back and what the biggest barriers are.
We will not limit our fight for fairness to the nine protected characteristics laid out in the 2010 Equality Act, which include sex, race and gender reassignment.
While it is true people in these groups suffer discrimination, the focus on protected characteristics has led to a narrowing of the equality debate that overlooks socio-economic status and geographic inequality.
This means some issues – particularly those facing white working-class children – are neglected.
This project will broaden the drive for equality and get to the heart of the barriers people face. It will report its initial findings in the Summer.
In addition to race, sex, disability and religion, it will also look at issues around geography, community and socio-economic background.
It will deliver a new life-path analysis of equality from the perspective of the individual, not groups. Using longitudinal data sets will help us understand where the real problems lie.
3. Geographic Inequality
There is a deeper wage gap between London and the regions than between men and women, with an average full-time salary a third higher in the capital than the North East of England.
There are lower employment rates, pay packets and life expectancy across the North than the South. At the same time, average median hourly earnings in the South West are only just over two thirds of those in London.
That is why the equality agenda must be prosecuted with fierce determination and clarity of purpose up and down the country, not just in London boardrooms and Whitehall offices.
Whether that is making the case for free schools in deprived areas or using data to help regional businesses attract investment.
We will use the power of evidence to drive reform and give people access to the facts so they can push for change.
We will drive this action from the North of England, where we will be moving the Equality Hub.
And I am delighted to announce that we are also taking on sponsorship of the Social Mobility Commission, to give this agenda real teeth and coherence.
The whole of government will be – and is – totally committed to this agenda. The Treasury is revising its Green Book so that it judges infrastructure investment fairly across the UK, no longer seeing – for example – faster broadband as a better investment in Surrey than South Lanarkshire.
The Department for Education is going to extra lengths to create academies and free schools outside London. And in housing, we are working to increase opportunities for home ownership across the country.
This is just the start. There is much more we will be doing to make our country fairer and give people agency over their own lives.
This is not limited to the UK
This fight for fairness goes beyond our shores.
Next year, the United Kingdom will use its presidency of the G7 to ramp up its work worldwide with like-minded allies to champion freedom, human rights and the equality of opportunity.
The UK is co-leading the new global Generation Equality Action Coalition on Gender Based Violence, and co-chairing the Equal Rights Coalition.
In that role, we will be holding our International LGBT conference, on the theme of Safe to Be Me.
We are working internationally to bring an end to child marriage and are supporting international programmes to end the abhorrent practice of Female Genital Mutilation.
We need to make progress across the world and at home as a fairer world and a fairer Britain go hand in hand.
Taking the right approach to deliver real change
At this vital time in our country’s history, we must make sure everyone has a chance to succeed in modern Britain.
That is why we cannot waste time on misguided, wrong-headed and ultimately destructive ideas that take agency away from people.
Instead, we will drive an agenda that empowers people and actively challenges discrimination.
We will use evidence to inform policy and drive change.
And we will focus on increasing openness and transparency, fixing the system rather than the results.
Together, we will build back a better society and lead the new fight for fairness.
Commenting on the speech by Liz Truss on the government’s new approach to inequality, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “No matter who you are or where you are from, everyone should be able to get on in life.
“Liz Truss is presenting a false choice.
“Ministers must both tackle the barriers facing today’s diverse working class, and act to end the additional discrimination and disadvantage affecting BME, women and disabled workers.
“They should start by banning the hated zero-hours contracts in their employment bill due in 2021. This would help end the insecurity that penalises BME workers and women in particular, and holds down living standards for all workers.”
The TUC wants the government to:
Tackle insecure work at the employment bill, due in 2021, including banning zero-hours contracts
Introduce a legal duty on all public bodies to tackle class and income inequality
Bring in mandatory reporting of BME, class and disability pay gaps, as with gender
The furlough scheme has been extended until the end of April 2021 with the government continuing to contribute 80% towards wages – giving businesses and employees across the UK certainty into the New Year, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced yesterday.
certainty for millions of jobs and businesses as furlough scheme extended until the end of April 2021
businesses struggling will have now until the end of March to access government generous loan schemes
Chancellor also confirmed that the Budget will be on the 3 March and set out the next phase of the plan to tackle the virus and protect jobs
In a move to ensure firms can access the support they need through continuing economic disruption, Rishi Sunak also confirmed he would be extending the government-guaranteed Covid-19 business loan schemes until the end of March.
These changes come ahead of the Budget, which the Chancellor has confirmed will take place on 3 March 2021. This will deliver the next phase of the plan to tackle the virus and protect jobs, so the extensions to the business loan and furlough schemes enable businesses to plan with certainty and access support in the first few months of the New Year ahead of the further update on wider Covid-19 economic support.
So far, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) scheme has protected 9.6 million jobs across the UK with more than one million businesses accessing loans to help them through the crisis.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said: “Our package of support for businesses and workers continues to be one of the most generous and effective in the world – helping our economy to recover and protecting livelihoods across the country.
“We know the premium businesses place on certainty, so it is right that we enable businesses to plan ahead regardless of the path the virus takes, which is why we’re providing certainty and clarity by extending this support, as well as implementing our Plan for Jobs.”
Business Secretary, Alok Sharma, said: “While our loan schemes have provided a vital lifeline to millions of firms across the country, we know that business owners need additional certainty as we head into the New Year.
“Extending government-backed loan schemes will give companies right across the UK the finance they need to support, protect and create jobs as we build back better from the pandemic.”
The Chancellor said he would review the employer contribution element of the CJRS in January, but decided to bring this forward to allow businesses to plan ahead for the remainder of the winter and the New Year.
The government will continue to pay 80% of the salary of employees for hours not worked until the end of April. Employers will only be required to pay wages, National Insurance Contributions (NICS) and pensions for hours worked; and NICS and pensions for hours not worked.
The eligibility criteria for the UK-wide scheme will remain unchanged and these changes will continue to apply to all Devolved Administrations.
Extending the scheme until the end of April means businesses across the country will have certainty about what support will be available to them.
Businesses will also be given until the end of March to access the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, and the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme. These had been due to close at the end of January.
The schemes have already provided over £68 billion in guaranteed loans, and helped to keep afloat business in all sectors of the UK economy who have been impacted by coronavirus.
We are extending the schemes now, ahead of Christmas and further into the new year, to ensure that businesses can continue to access the support they need to grow and recover.
The government has already announced that more support will be available beyond March, through a successor loan scheme. More details of the scheme will be announced in due course, with the government providing a further update on wider Covid-19 economic support at the Budget on 3 March.
The furlough and loan schemes are part of the government’s wider plan to support, create and protect jobs through its Plan for Jobs. This includes the Kickstart Scheme, more investment in training and skills as well as the Self Employment Income Support Scheme grant, with a fourth grant being made available from February to April 2021.
Commenting on yesterday’s announcement by the Chancellor that the Job Retention Scheme will be extended until April, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Unions have been pushing hard for the job retention scheme to be extended. This decision will bring some much-needed certainty for workers and businesses.
“But the threat of mass unemployment has not gone away. The government must provide additional support for the industries hit hardest by this crisis – like retail and hospitality.
“And it must create the jobs we need by investing now in jobs in green infrastructure, transport and our public services.
“Fast-tracking spending on these areas will cut unemployment and help the UK recover more quickly from this pandemic. Ministers should take this opportunity to improve the scheme, with a minimum wage floor, clear support for training and better support for the self-employed.”
On the need to help workers who lose their jobs, Frances O’Grady added: “We can’t afford for this pandemic to scar people’s prospects the way recent crises have. Ministers must help those who lose their jobs get back on their feet by providing a permanent boost to universal credit’.
Black and minority ethnic (BME) workers have had to self-isolate at a much higher rate than white workers, according to new TUC research published this week.
The poll, carried out by Britain Thinks, shows that more than a third (35%) of BME workers have self-isolated during the pandemic compared to a quarter (24%) of white workers.
Feeling unsafe at work
The TUC believes the research shows that BME workers are being put at greater risk of coronavirus exposure than white colleagues.
While half of white workers (49%) reported that their employer had done a Covid-Secure risk assessment for their workplace, this falls to 36% for BME workers. This is despite the risk assessment being a legal requirement.
Higher stress levels
Working during the pandemic continues to have a negative impact on the levels of stress and anxiety of two-fifths of BME workers (38%).
BME workers (88%) are more likely to have concerns about returning to work than white workers (78%).
Previous TUC analysis has shown that BME people are far more likely to be in precarious work and in jobs with higher coronavirus mortality rates than white workers, such as security guards, carers, nurses and drivers.
Unfair treatment
Almost a third (32%) of BME workers report having experienced 3 or more forms of unfair treatment compared to a quarter of white workers.
In addition, almost a quarter (23%) of BME workers report experiencing abuse from other members of their workplace, compared to 16% of white workers.
TUC antiracism task force
The findings are published today (Thursday) as the TUC’s new antiracism task force meets for the first time. It is chaired by NASUWT General Secretary Dr Patrick Roach.
The task force will lead the trade union movement’s renewed campaign against racism at work. It will engage with Black workers across the UK to hear about their experiences. And it will produce recommendations on tackling structural racism in the UK, in workplaces and in unions themselves.
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “This government has been careless of the impact of coronavirus on BME lives.
“BME workers are more likely to be exposed to the virus, less likely to work in Covid-Secure workplaces, and therefore more likely to be plunged into hardship if they have to self-isolate.
“BME workers – and all workers – should be entitled to decent sick pay when they have to self-isolate, and to safe workplaces.
“The government should act to rid the UK of the low wage insecure jobs that keep many BME workers in poverty and put them at higher risk from the virus. And it should set out a real commitment to ending systemic racism and discrimination.”
Chair of the TUC’s anti-racism task force and NASUWT General Secretary Dr Patrick Roach said: “There is a hostile environment for Black workers today which means they are more likely to face discrimination in the workplace, to be in insecure jobs, and more likely to be dismissed from work.
“And, during the pandemic we have also seen how racial discrimination has resulted in Black workers being much more likely to die at work as a result of Coronavirus.
“As the Task Force begins its work, we will be hearing evidence from Black workers about their experiences of everyday racism in the workplace.
“The Anti-Racism Task Force will not hesitate to call out racial injustice wherever we find it. It will bring together a strong coalition to deliver a programme of measures to root out racism and tackle racial discrimination and injustice at work.”
The Government should use the Job Retention Scheme (JRS) to encourage more workers to self-isolate at home – a key part of the strategy to fight Covid-19 that the current sick pay regime is failing to support – according to new research published by the Resolution Foundation.
The report – Time Out – explores the eligibility, generosity and efficacy of the UK’s statutory sick pay regime and Test and Trace payments during the Covid-19 crisis, and considers the case for reform.
It concludes that with self-isolating continuing to play a crucial role in fighting Covid-19 throughout 2021 as the vaccine is rolled-out, and with the Head of Test and Trace Dido Harding admitting that financial difficulty means some people are refusing to self-isolate, the current system needs to be replaced with a more effective regime.
The report notes that the main support available for employees asked to self-isolate at home is Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). But at just £96 a week, SSP offers the lowest level of Government support provided across any advanced economy during the pandemic. SSP replaces less than a quarter of a typical employee’s previous earnings, compared to an OECD average replacement rate of 60 per cent.
Furthermore, two million employees earning less than £120 a week are not eligible for SSP – a barrier that excludes one-in-four part-time workers, and one-in-seven workers in retail, hospitality and leisure – leaving them with no income at all if they self-isolate at home.
The UK Government has implicitly acknowledged the limitations of SSP by introducing £500 Test and Trace Support Payments (TTSP) for individuals entitled to benefits.
However, the report finds that these more generous payments are not reaching enough people, with only one-in-eight workers entitled to them. For example, data supplied by local authorities across West Yorkshire – an area which has had one of the highest infection rates in the UK over recent months – showed that just 1,783 payments have been made between 12 October and 25 November.
With financial support for self-isolating at home playing a critical role in helping to bring Covid infections down, the report calls for a more effective, generous and easy to deliver support regime to be put in place – using the JRS, Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).
The Foundation proposes the following support:
Employees to be paid via the JRS. Extending the JRS to include self-isolation payments would ensure workers retained 80 per cent of their previous earnings. The Foundation estimates this would cost £426 million a month (up from around £112 million which is spent on SSP) if 643,000 employees used the scheme.
Self-employed workers to be paid pro-rata via the SEISS. Grants of up £830 should be awarded to self-employed workers who need to self-isolate for ten days, if they haven’t already claimed.
Self-employed workers not entitled to SEISS to be paid via enhanced ESA. The many self-employed workers not eligible for the SEISS are entitled to ESA. This payment should be uprated by £20 to £96 a week – in line with the uprating of Universal Credit – while people are asked to self-isolate.
The Foundation adds that while the following package of measures would help to get Covid infections down, the failure of the UK’s sick pay regime should not be forgotten once the pandemic has passed. Permanent reforms to both its eligibility, generosity and operation will be needed, it says.
Maja Gustafsson, Researcher at the Resolution Foundation, said:“Getting people to self-isolate at home is one of the important tools we have in combatting Covid-19. But asking workers to do that often involves a major financial sacrifice – and the UK’s sick pay regime has been woefully inadequate in providing the necessary support. Many more Covid infections will have taken place as a result.
“Coronavirus vaccines will take many months to roll out, so more workers will need to self-isolate at home to contain the spread of the virus next year. Given the failure of the current sick pay regime, the Government must turn now to the far more successful job support schemes to provide workers and firms with the financial support they need to do the right thing.”
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady commented: “The lack of decent sick pay has been a gaping hole in the government’s Covid strategy. Asking workers to self-isolate on £96 a week is not viable – especially when many don’t have savings to fall back on.”
She warned: “This problem needs fixing urgently. Until people are given sick pay they can survive on they will be forced to choose between following the health advice and paying their bills. Nobody should be plunged into financial hardship for doing the right thing.
“Sick pay should be raised to at least the rate of the real living wage and everyone should be entitled to it. It’s not right that two million workers are excluded from it because they do not earn enough.”
TUC polling published in September revealed that more than 4 in 10 workers would be plunged into financial hardship if forced to self-isolate for two weeks on SSP.
Workers in food manufacturing already face a higher risk of getting Covid-19
Huge influx of Christmas temporary staff could see cases “rocket”
Ministers must update health and safety guidance and place a legal duty on employers to publish their risk assessments, says TUC
The TUC has warned that food processing factories could become “super spreaders” of Covid-19 in the run up to Christmas.
People working in food plants already face a higher chance of contracting Covid-19 due to the lack of airflow, lack of social distancing and low temperatures, says the TUC.
With the number of temporary workers in food manufacturing set to increase by more than 40% this Christmas, the union body says the risk of workplace infections will grow.
Since March, several UK food factories have been forced to close during the pandemic after reporting hundreds of cases of coronavirus, among them suppliers to major supermarkets. Last month, turkey meat manufacturer Bernard Matthews reported 147 positive cases across two sites.
Food processing has the third highest rate of outbreaks of any sector across Europe, after care homes and hospitals, according to data from the European Centre for Disease Control.
Temporary workers
Food manufacturing companies across Britain are currently advertising for temporary workers as they gear up for the busy Christmas period. They include:
Dessert factory Bakkavor, which had 115 staff test positive for Covid-19 over the summer. The company is seeking hundreds of seasonal staff to meet demand for Christmas.
Meat supplier Cranswick, previous hit by outbreaks that led to three workers losing their lives, which is recruiting for at least 130 Christmas jobs in one factory.
Safety guidance is “out-of-date”
The TUC warns that current workplace safety guidance for food production is “out-of-date”.
New scientific studies have shown the significance of airborne transmission with Covid-19 aerosols remaining suspended in the air for hours. But the existing government guidance is still largely based on stopping spread of droplets which fall to the ground in seconds.
The TUC says ministers must update the guidance to deal with issues including:
Ventilation: the current guidance fails to offer advice on effective ventilation beyond opening windows. And it doesn’t state what additional measures should be implemented in instances where this is not possible to achieve.
Face coverings: the government should issue detailed standards on the quality of face coverings. The World Health Organisation says there should be three protective layers.
Workplace temperature: studies show that coronavirus thrives in the cooler temperatures found in meat packing factories. But there is no mention of workplace temperatures in the current official guidance.
Social distancing: the current guidance states that, where two metre distancing is not possible, working side-by-side is preferable to face-to face. The TUC says this rule should be reviewed based on the most recent scientific findings.
The TUC says ministers must “stop dragging their feet” and make it a legal requirement on employers to publish their risk assessments so that workers have confidence that the necessary precautions are in place.
TUC polling published in September revealed that just two-fifths (38%) of workers say they know their employers have carried out Covid-Secure risk assessments. And only four in ten (42%) reported being given adequate PPE.
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:“There is a real danger that food factories could become ‘super spreaders’ of Covid-19 as they produce turkeys and other seasonal fare for Christmas.
“Out-of-date guidelines on food production, combined with the seasonal increase in staff, will put factory workers at an even higher risk of infection.
“Ministers urgently need to update the guidance for food production. They must require employers to publish their risk assessments. And they must resource the HSE properly, so it can get into food factories and crack down on unsafe working.
“That’s how to make sure everyone is safe at work this Christmas.”
Enforcement not doing enough to contain outbreaks
The TUC says comparatively little enforcement action is taking place. The number of notices issued by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for Covid-19 related reasons is very low, with just 31 issued to manufacturing employers since April.
The TUC wants to see a big rise in workplace inspections. And the union body says that employer compliance, as measured by the HSE, is at odds with the rise in workplace infections because government safety measures are not up-to-date and not doing enough to protect workers.
