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| International Women’s Day - Government Achievements for Women. |
Key Achievements:
• Since 1997, Labour has done more than any other Government in history to support the choices made by women in the UK, and to enable women of all backgrounds to fulfil their potential.
• Women under Labour now have the National Minimum Wage, fairer (and higher) pensions, and opportunities to balance work and family life that were hardly talked about 10 years ago.
• We know there’s more to do to support women in the workplace and at home, in education and health, in meeting their aspirations for themselves and their families – but we’ve already made a huge difference over the last 10 years.
• We’re also working to promote women’s equality internationally, especially in developing countries, to get access to education and healthcare, and to protect vulnerable women from trafficking and exploitation.
Detailed Information:
Help looking after children…
• Since 1997, we’ve more than doubled the number of registered childcare places to over 1.29 million
• By February 2007, we had opened 1,094 Sure Start centres, which were providing services to more than 875,000 children and their families
• All three and four year olds are now entitled to free, Government-funded, early education
• By 2010, all children aged between three and 14 will be eligible for additional high-quality childcare all year round, from 8am to 6pm every weekday
Help with family finances…
• As of December 2006, around six million families – and 10 million children - were benefiting from tax credits
• In 1997, Government financial support for families, including Statutory Maternity Pay, was worth £2,600 in the child’s first year. Today, it’s worth more than £8,000
• The Working Tax Credit helps working parents cover up to 80 per cent of the cost of paying for childcare, up to a maximum of £175 a week for one child and £300 a week for two or more children
In the workplace …
• Between 1971 and 2004, the number of women in employment rose from 42% to 70%.
• When the adult National Minimum Wage was uprated on October 1, 2006 to £5.35, two-thirds of the people who benefited from the rise were women
• Introducing the National Minimum Wage played a part in narrowing the pay gap
• Last November, we launched the Women and Work Commission’s Action Plan, which aims to further reduce the gender pay and opportunities gap by improving the prospects and career options of women in the labour market
Help balancing work and family responsibilities through flexible working ...
• Since April 2003, employees with disabled children, or children under the age of six, have had the right to ask for flexible working arrangements
• Almost a quarter of parents with children under the age of six (22%) have asked for flexible working since the law was introduced (DTI Apr 2005)
• From April 2007, carers of adults will also be given the right to ask for flexible working arrangements
Improved pay and rights for parents ...
• Between 1997 and 1 April this year, paid maternity leave has doubled from 4½ months to 9 months for anyone adopting a child or having a baby on or after April 1, 2007
• We’ve also increased the flat rate for maternity pay, up from £55.70 in 1997 to £112. 75 a week from April 2006, doubled in 10 years
• In 2003 introduced for the first time ever paid paternity leave
• Fathers will soon have a new right to take up to 26 weeks Additional Paternity Leave before their child’s first birthday, some of which could even be ‘paid’ leave, if the mother returns to work early
• The changes to maternity pay and leave could benefit around 400,000 new mums every year
• Part-time workers and people on fixed term contracts now have the same rights as people in full-time work
To stop violence and exploitation against women…
In November 2004, we introduced the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act, which was the biggest overhaul of domestic violence legislation for 30 years.
Since then, we have also:
• Produced cross-government national domestic violence delivery plans
• Expanded the Domestic Violence Courts System, which numbered 53 courts in February 2007
• Ring-fenced £32 million for refuges, which we hope will significantly improve the number and quality of refuge places available
Thanks to these measures, conviction rates for domestic violence have shot up to as much as 71%.
We’ve also:
• Established a strategy to address prostitution
• Set up the UK Human Trafficking Centre in Sheffield to gather intelligence and take practical steps
• Committed to protect victims of trafficking by signing up to The European Convention Against Trafficking
Better health and Well Being
• Between 1997 and 2005, the death rate from breast cancer fall by over 8% for under 75 year olds
• Over 99% of patients with suspected cancer are now seen by a specialist with 2 weeks of being referred by their GP, compared to 63% in 1997
• In 2006 we launched a new sexual health campaign to tackle acute sexually transmitted infections
• Due to investment in services teenage pregnancy is at its the lowest in 20 years
In retirement …
• To tackle pensioner poverty, the Pension Credit has helped to lift more than two million pensioners – most of them women – out of absolute poverty
• On November 29, 2006, the Government published the Pensions Bill, which contains a number of reforms to the pension system that will enable more women to build up a State Pension in their own right
• The new State Pension scheme will also recognise women’s parenting and caring contributions, and credit them accordingly
In public life …
•After the last election, a record number of women entered parliament – 126 in the House of Commons, and 142 in the House of Lords.
•We have introduced positive measures to allow for more women candidates and established a new Commission to improve the diversity of local authority governors.
•Women currently hold 35.6% of public appointments overall, up from 32% in 1997
Internationally and in developing countries…
• As a key component of the Government’s international development policy, DFID (Department for International Development) is committed to promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment in all its work.
• Labour recognises how important it is to help women fulfil their economic potential, help girls enrol and stay in school, and tackle social and cultural discrimination that prevents women accessing health care.
• We are committed to increase our spending on girls’ education, HIV and AIDS, and maternal mortality, and to improve women’s access to services, and promote women’s rights.
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