Neo-liberalism and Gender Inequality in the Workplace in Britain

There has been a significant rise in the number of women working in Britain since the 1970s. This rise is directly related to the move towards a service economy and also higher levels of education and training. In addition, a series of laws introduced since the 1970s, notably the Equal Pay Act of 1970, the Sex Discrimination Act of 1974 and the Employment Protection Act of 1982, have encouraged women to work. However, there appears to be a discrepancy between the quantity of work available for women and the quality. Quality work, as defined by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), can be described as work that provides decent pay, and offers development and progression opportunities. Many of the jobs created in the service sector and largely occupied by women tend to be low paid and low prospect “pink-collar” jobs, failing to meet many of the “decent work” recommendations of the ILO. Women tend to cluster in flexible service sector jobs such as infant school assistants, home helps and domestic helpers. Although this is true of many industrialised countries with very different labour market conditions such as France and Germany, the pay and prospects gap for women is considerably higher in Britain. There are, of course, a number of causal effects. However, a body of evidence suggests that higher gender inequalities at work may be linked to neo-liberalism in Britain. The influence of neo-liberalism has not only shaped legislation in Britain but also attitudes to women and work since the 1970s. Indeed, after analysing the results of a nationwide survey carried out across Britain and France in 2014 on wellbeing at work, this article shows how British attitudes to inequalities at work are shaped by the neo-liberal model and may have serious implications for future policies to improve pay and prospects for women working in Britain. It will thus explore the influence of neo-liberalism in Britain on career pay and prospects in Britain, taking both a theoretical and evidence-based approach.