Building a fairer Scotland - Wilson hails 25 years of the Sex Discrimination act

28 Dec 2000

The Government will continue to build on the progress made during the last 25 years in establishing equality between men and women, Scotland Office Minister Brian Wilson said today.

Speaking on the 25thAnniversary of the Sex Discrimination Act, Mr Wilson said:

"There have been huge changes since 1975 but much remains to be done. The Sex Discrimination Act led to the setting up of the Equal Opportunities Commission which has done much to challenge the unfair and unequal treatment of women, particularly in the work-place.

"The present Government's programme on employment rights, support for working families and social inclusion is strongly geared towards improving the position of women. Relevant measures include:

  • the National Minimum Wage - which we estimate to have helped around 100,000 Scots workers, the majority of them women;
  • the New Deal for Lone Parents - helping over 6,000 Scottish parents, mainly women, start or restart their working lives, and providing advice on training and childcare to a further 10,000;
  • improved rights for Scotland's 520,000 part-time workers, around 80 per cent of whom are women;
  • our Work-Life Balance campaign helping employers and staff reconcile the needs of the workplace with the demands of family life through flexible working practices.

"All these initiatives are helping to address the inequalities that still exist. Projections suggest that by 2011 there will be an additional 1.7 million jobs in the British economy of which 1.3 million will be occupied by women.

"There is no moral or economic sense to discrimination against women in the workplace, and this Government is determined to fight it at every level.

"Although it is decreasing - from 37 per cent to 18 per cent over the last 30 years - the gender pay gap still exists. We are committed to working with the Equal Opportunities Commission and other organisations to ensure that working people across Scotland are treated fairly and equally in the workplace."

NOTE FOR NEWS EDITORS

The Equal Opportunities Commission was established in 1975 by section 53 of the Sex Discrimination Act with the aim of ending sex discrimination, promoting equal opportunities for women and men, and reviewing and suggesting improvements for the Sex Discrimination Act and the Equal Pay Act.