Poverty 'linked to gender pay gap'

Child poverty is linked to the gender pay gap and lack of job opportunities for women, according to previously unpublished statistics.

The Fawcett Society said its research showed that two out of five children living in poverty are in single mother households, while a further third have a mother on low or no income.

Lone mothers are at double the risk of being in poverty as couples who have children, said the campaign group.

The report also showed that mothers in the UK were at greater risk of living in poverty than in any other Western country.

Other details included the fact that 30,000 women lost their jobs every year as a result of becoming pregnant, while more women moved into low paid jobs such as cleaning, after they had a child.

The Fawcett Society urged the Government to do more to tackle poverty rates among women by banning the dismissal of pregnant workers, increasing maternity and paternity entitlements, making gender pay audits compulsory and increasing the hours mothers can work without losing their benefits.

Dr Katherine Rake, director of the Fawcett Society, said: "Having a baby in the UK puts women at risk of moving into poverty. This means that child poverty and mothers' poverty have common causes and common solutions.

"We will only succeed in ending child poverty when we address mothers' inequality by ensuring they have access to equal pay, adequate benefits and freedom from discrimination."

Cath Speight, political officer of Unite, which helped with the research, said: "The welfare of children cannot be separated from that of their mothers and it is not acceptable that women and children are living in poverty in this country.

"Women have waited long enough for equal pay - urgent action is now required if the Government is to achieve their target of eradicating child poverty."

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