Clause 73
Equality Bill
4:15 pm
Emily Thornberry (Islington South and Finsbury, Labour)
The elephant in the corner of this Committee Room is that men and women have children, but it is women who take primary responsibility for those children. Because of that, it is women who take the time off and then have difficulty in getting highly paid employment thereafter. Surely the biggest step that could be taken to equalise men and women’s pay is for men to start taking more responsibility for, and to take time off to have, children. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that we should be changing social policy and, possibly, legislation so that it is easier for men to take paid time off work to look after children?