Women Talk Money

Despite many years of equal opportunities for women, the gender pay gap is still 10.76% with women graduates earning 15% less than men within 5 years of graduation and 60% of unpaid care is carried out by women. At the same time, an average of 370 women each day lost their jobs in Scotland between October and December 2011.

These statistics were revealed at the recent WEA Women @ Work Conference “Women Talk Money” event which was hosted by The Highland Council in Inverness and attended by 60 delegates from the Highlands and other parts of Scotland and explored perspectives on economics, women and worth.

The speakers were led by Kathyrn Busby, Co-Director of the Equality Trust sharing the findings of the highly acclaimed “The Spirit Level” by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett which provides evidence on why equal societies benefit everyone.  Ailsa Mckay, Professor of Economics at Glasgow Caledonian University,led a discussion on gender equality and economic performance and Emma Ritch from Close the Gap discussed the business case for gender equality. Claire Logie, Strategic Director of Independent Women – Financial Advisers for Women discussed the difference gender makes in managing money.

Delegates also had the opportunity to explore in depth through workshops the role of Credit unions, with Cath King, Policy Manager, The Highland Council; Debt and Credit with Carol Greer from Citizens Advice Scotland as well as go deeper into issues with Kathryn Busby and Emma Ritch.

A spokesperson for WEA noted that delegates expressed frustration that the important messages of the conference need to reach a wider audience, particularly for Scotland where twice as many women work in the public sector compared with men and therefore the impact of government cuts having a greater impact on women and families.

The conclusion of the conference was that there had to be new ways of doing things which would be of benefit not just to individual women, but society as a whole - flexible work patterns, properly funded childcare, a living wage – and a recognition that the home had a really important role to play in health and wellbeing for everyone. Delegates were encouraged to raise these issues with politicians where there are opportunities for political change.