Scottish Parliament on gender pay gap

The Scottish Parliament has a Committee on Economy, Jobs and Fair Work.  I like the normative character of the last bit in the title;  it goes along with the new emphasis on quality of work in the upcomingTaylor report (cf my previous post). The Committee has just produced an excellent report:  No Small Change: the economic potential of closing the gender pay gap.  (Minor declaration of interest: I submitted evidence to it.)   Many of the issues are very familiar, e.g. on recruiting more women into STEM subjects and the need to build in greater opportunities for flexible working, but none the less important for all that.  The report does a…
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Jo Swinson, reverse convergence and PP Factors 3 & 5

"Just because a man would do it doesn't make it the right thing to do." These are Jo Swindon's words in explaining why she has decided not to run for the leadership of the Liberal Democrats.  I think her decision is a brave and important one. I'm not a Lib Dem supporter, but my understanding is that Jo was the frontrunner for the leadership.  She has a strong track record of commitment to equalities, so in one sense it's sad that she won't be leading the party, on this as well as on other issues.  But I applaud her for coming to the decision, and for explaining it as she…
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Progression and quality of work

The week got off to a brisk start with a Resolution Foundation/CBI conference on the future of the labour market.  Three panel sessions, packed with a mix of analysis and practitioner input (how I wish that academics would learn from think tanks about how to get information across effectively...). A central theme was about the quality of work.  Partly this was because Matthew Taylor was one of the contributors.  Extensively trailing his forthcoming report on the gig economy, he told us that the primary focus will be on this theme of the quality of work, recognising that measuring quality is much more difficult and contentious than measuring quantity.  So although…
Read More

Scottish Parliament on gender pay gap

The Scottish Parliament has a Committee on Economy, Jobs and Fair Work.  I like the normative character of the last bit in the title;  it goes along with the new emphasis on quality of work in the upcomingTaylor report (cf my previous post). The Committee has just produced an excellent report:  No Small Change: the economic potential of closing the gender pay gap.  (Minor declaration of interest: I submitted evidence to it.)   Many of the issues are very familiar, e.g. on recruiting more women into STEM subjects and the need to build in greater opportunities for flexible working, but none the less important for all that.  The report does a…
Read More

Jo Swinson, reverse convergence and PP Factors 3 & 5

"Just because a man would do it doesn't make it the right thing to do." These are Jo Swindon's words in explaining why she has decided not to run for the leadership of the Liberal Democrats.  I think her decision is a brave and important one. I'm not a Lib Dem supporter, but my understanding is that Jo was the frontrunner for the leadership.  She has a strong track record of commitment to equalities, so in one sense it's sad that she won't be leading the party, on this as well as on other issues.  But I applaud her for coming to the decision, and for explaining it as she…
Read More

Progression and quality of work

The week got off to a brisk start with a Resolution Foundation/CBI conference on the future of the labour market.  Three panel sessions, packed with a mix of analysis and practitioner input (how I wish that academics would learn from think tanks about how to get information across effectively...). A central theme was about the quality of work.  Partly this was because Matthew Taylor was one of the contributors.  Extensively trailing his forthcoming report on the gig economy, he told us that the primary focus will be on this theme of the quality of work, recognising that measuring quality is much more difficult and contentious than measuring quantity.  So although…
Read More

Scottish Parliament on gender pay gap

The Scottish Parliament has a Committee on Economy, Jobs and Fair Work.  I like the normative character of the last bit in the title;  it goes along with the new emphasis on quality of work in the upcomingTaylor report (cf my previous post). The Committee has just produced an excellent report:  No Small Change: the economic potential of closing the gender pay gap.  (Minor declaration of interest: I submitted evidence to it.)   Many of the issues are very familiar, e.g. on recruiting more women into STEM subjects and the need to build in greater opportunities for flexible working, but none the less important for all that.  The report does a…
Read More

Jo Swinson, reverse convergence and PP Factors 3 & 5

"Just because a man would do it doesn't make it the right thing to do." These are Jo Swindon's words in explaining why she has decided not to run for the leadership of the Liberal Democrats.  I think her decision is a brave and important one. I'm not a Lib Dem supporter, but my understanding is that Jo was the frontrunner for the leadership.  She has a strong track record of commitment to equalities, so in one sense it's sad that she won't be leading the party, on this as well as on other issues.  But I applaud her for coming to the decision, and for explaining it as she…
Read More

Progression and quality of work

The week got off to a brisk start with a Resolution Foundation/CBI conference on the future of the labour market.  Three panel sessions, packed with a mix of analysis and practitioner input (how I wish that academics would learn from think tanks about how to get information across effectively...). A central theme was about the quality of work.  Partly this was because Matthew Taylor was one of the contributors.  Extensively trailing his forthcoming report on the gig economy, he told us that the primary focus will be on this theme of the quality of work, recognising that measuring quality is much more difficult and contentious than measuring quantity.  So although…
Read More