THE Scottish Commission on Older Women and Work report makes for particularly grim if, unfortunately, not hugely surprising reading.
Women over 50 in Scotland feel undervalued, they feel more likely to face age discrimination, are the victims of the largest gender-based pay gap and are less likely to be promoted.
They feel invisible.
It was Scottish Labour who announced this Commission back in February, and credit to them for asking questions that were not being asked. But it is a little disappointing to see the findings of the report published with little of the fanfare that was there when it was launched.
More than13,000 women between the ages of 50 and 64 in Scotland are currently unemployed, a substantial increase of 30 per cent since 2010. Over the same period, unemployment of men between 50 and 64 has decreased by 23 per cent.
Those figures clearly point to discrimination. Women in their 50s and 60s are much less likely to be employed than men and younger women.
In the workplace they are overlooked for promotion. They are the subject of outright abuse. Outside the workplace, they will possibly have to provide unpaid care for elderly parents and young grandchildren.
Under the Tories they will likely be “disproportionately negatively impacted’’ by welfare reforms, according to the report.
Women over the age of 50 are living longer. They are healthier, active, they want to work. And yet, too often they are told no.
Sometimes when we come so far we fail to realise how much further we have to go.
This unfairness cannot be fixed overnight. It is as much about changing the mindset as it is about changing working practices and policy. These changes aren’t just about benefiting women in their 50s. We all benefit from making society fairer and more respectful.
Elaine C Smith: At a certain age you’re invisible in the media
Scotland's invisible women: urgent action sought over gender gap in the workplace
Not-spot broadband plan’s broader benefit
COMMUNITY-led projects appear to be the way ahead and one of them – GigaPlus Argyll – is setting the standard for broadband provision in rural areas.
That is why it was the model for a £9 million scheme launched by Nicola Sturgeon in Oban yesterday to fund superfast broadband in “not-spots”, which account for five per cent of premises in the UK.
The grant scheme will see communities come together to procure superfast broadband from commercial providers.
Scotland still lags behind the rest of the UK on good digital connectivity, the importance of which is difficult to underplay. It brings big business benefits and allows staff to work from virtually anywhere, allows remote health diagnoses, eases access to local and central government services, and means education and entertainment is available to all.
Many of us take the instant availability of such services for granted, yet plenty of people are still living and working in those five per cent of places.
We welcome intervention from the Holyrood and UK governments, but we also appreciate the benefits of building community spirit by bringing people together to secure for their area what has hitherto been outwith their reach.
Long may such community projects prosper.
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