Gender equality 'still years away'

Gender equality is still generations away, with men and women suffering huge gaps in pay, health, pensions and levels of safety, according to a new report today.

The final study by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), before it is absorbed into a new organisation, revealed that many British institutions have not caught up with changes in society.

Women are still in a minority in Parliament and in company boardrooms, they receive less pay and pensions and still do most of the housework.

The "safety gap" is getting worse, with women increasingly uneasy about walking alone at night, said the EOC.

The commission estimated it will take 45 years for women to receive similar pensions to men, 25 years for part-time workers to be paid the same rate and 200 years for the "power gap" in Parliament to close.

The EOC identified "worrying gender gaps" across all areas of life and warned that at the current rate of progress, change will be "painfully slow".

The report noted that Britons have dramatically transformed the way they lead their lives in the past 30 years, with parents sharing childcare and women and men working more flexibly.

But many workplaces, institutions and services are still designed for an age when women stayed at home, which creates a barrier to equality, said the EOC.

Jenny Watson, chairwoman of the EOC, said: "These startling indicators suggest that the reality of far too many men's and women's lives is out of step with their aspirations.

"We're living in the midst of an unfinished social revolution. Today, most women work, many men no longer define themselves as breadwinners and both sexes often struggle to find the time they need to care for others in their lives.

"Despite the many advances over recent years, Britain's institutions have not caught up with these changes.

"Inequality is affecting every part of our lives, from women who fear for their safety at night to the many men who find it hard to get a GP's appointment, affecting their long-term health.

"Failure to act will have consequences for the social and financial health of countless individuals, as well as the nation as a whole.

"A country that channels women into low-paid work, fails to adequately support families, and forces people who want to work flexibly to trade down in jobs pays a high price in terms of child poverty, family breakdown and low productivity.

"This is a challenge that Gordon Brown's new Government urgently needs to address."

The EOC set out a number of priorities for the Government to tackle, including closing the gender pay gap, giving better support to families and sharing power equally between men and women.

The EOC will become part of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights in October.