Aberdeenshire MSP welcomes gender pay gap fund

Aberdeenshire East MSP Gillian Martin has welcomed a programme launched by the Scottish Government to help tackle gender inequality in the workplace.

The Women Returners Programme has been backed by £500,000 and will fund projects to help organisations develop more inclusive and diverse workplaces.

The most recent figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) has shown a decrease in the gender pay gap in Scotland from 7.2 percent in 2019 to three percent in 2020.

Meanwhile, across the whole UK it has dropped from 9 percent to 7.4 percent.

Commenting Gillian Martin said: “This funding is an important and necessary investment to help in our efforts to close the gender pay gap.

“We must ensure everyone has the equal chance of workplace progression and has access to employment opportunities.

“We know there can be a number of barriers around women returning to work including access to affordable childcare and peer support during their return to the work place.

“Support such as this has proven to be more important than ever this year as the impact of COVID-19 impacts on women in the labour market.”

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