“For a 21st-century woman in the UK today, most of the privileges that she enjoys, from child benefits and family allowances to equal pay, came to exist because a woman fought for it in Parliament.”
Jess Phillips MP, Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence and Safeguarding
In 2022, the United Kingdom ranked 22nd on the Global Gender Gap Index, placing it behind European countries such as France, Germany and Ireland. According to recent data published by the Institute of Government, the 2019 General Election saw 220 female MPs elected to the House of Commons and 221 peers to the House of Lords. Needless to say, equal gender representation is far from achieved in elected office.
In an exclusive with Chamber, the Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence and Safeguarding, Jess Phillips, sat down with 50:50 Parliament’s Tara Mowoe to discuss gender inequality in public life, highlighting the paramount importance of equal representation.
Representation as an ongoing issue
Better representation becomes necessary when diversity forms the core of a democracy. For heterogeneous community groups in the UK to feel represented in society, it is essential that they see the members of their community in the corridors of power. Phillips argues that better representation in office leads to improved decision-making for the entire population in a country. For an economy where women outnumber men, this representation of women is long overdue.
“We are more than half the population, so we should have more than half the seats. 50% is not good enough for me, we should have 52% representation.”
Jess Phillips, Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence and Safeguarding
For elected officials, it is important to allow diverse voices to put forward their issues in a manner respected and expected by them and not chosen for them by Government. For this, it is necessary that all aspects of women’s identity get due recognition in legislation. In a society, intersectionality of identities leads to multiple and overlapping demands from different communities. For example, the experiences of a black disabled woman will be different to those of a black woman who is a mother, which would further be different to those of a working Asian woman, though all belong to ethnic minorities. According to Phillips, it thus becomes essential to not homogenise women’s issues into a single category for the sake of representation as this would, in fact, alienate the very communities who need to be at the forefront of the representation debate. Instead, women’s representation should entail, within itself, a holistic approach that allows for more diverse and intersectional voices to be heard within their broader community.
Personal life experiences
Speaking about her own journey into Parliament, Phillips looks back on her community work as a local leader and her consequent entry into the Labour Party. Celebrating the unwavering support received by the party in encouraging her to stand as a leader, she touches upon the responsibility that existing elected officials, and the community at large, hold in encouraging women’s passion for their communities to be translated into ideals that find a seat in Government. With men being statistically more represented in positions of power, it is more important than ever to usher female leaders into those positions.
“Both instances of pestering me to be an elected representative at the local and national level, it was a man who did it.”
Jess Phillips, Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence and Safeguarding
A cross-party approach to achieve this ideal, then, becomes paramount in ensuring greater majorities spread the message of equal representation. Additionally, with the polarisation of political views on the rise in society, encouraging gender minorities to stand, irrespective of their political leaning, should be the message sent across from leaders with varied political outlooks.
Systemic barriers in the labour market –“the fatality of our wombs”
As a Co-Chair with Flick Drummond on the APPG for women in work, Phillips discussed the findings of the recent reports published by the APPG.
Even today, with equal pay and representation at the forefront of sociopolitical debate, a disproportionate share of care responsibilities is burdened by women. Not only does systemic discrimination take place when women begin work but it is also present during their entry into the labour market, where maternity status is viewed unfavourably by many employers.
“The fundamental issue is the fact that women are child bearers. The real problem of career breaks then leads to their isolation from the labour market.”
Jess Phillips, Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence and Safeguarding
The complications worsen if the burden of responsibility disrupts work-life balance, giving way to feelings of inadequacy among women in either of the roles¾as a carer and as a worker. A lack of recognition and integration of the role that women play not just at work, but in society, leads many to forcefully make life choices prioritising family life. Choices that would otherwise, not have to be made, particularly in the presence of balanced working options in public life. As a long overdue solution, Phillips calls for men to share 50% of the household burden so that women can find themselves in numbers of 50% or more in public life. This would also help solve the UK’s struggle with underproductivity, as greater numbers of women entering the labour force would allow diversification of job profiles and increased flexible working allowances.
“One of the problems of productivity in our country is the lack of available, decent, workable roles for women in the economy and the trillions of free labour provided by them.”
Jess Phillips, Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence and Safeguarding
Phillips also criticises tokenistic measures that all governments are guilty of, often in the form of minimal funding allocated to women’s groups or short-termism in ideologies with respect to issues on gender inequality. She presses for structural shifts in the institutions of public life, which are necessary to support and cater to women across different geographies in the UK by understanding individuals’ needs better.
Looking forward
“I think we should have hope in the fact that years of activism across all parts of society has won the argument around representation, certainly for women.”
Jess Phillips, Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence and Safeguarding
Though looking ahead with optimism, Phillips maintains that this victory is only the beginning. While a part of the battle for gender representation has been won, more effort needs to go into sustaining this struggle. For this, the responsibility lands on not just the elected Government but also families, students, teachers, third parties and all stakeholders within society. Social institutions, their laws and, most importantly, the Government hold powerful leavers, which when pulled correctly, can usher in transformational social change, paving the way for a more efficient, inclusive and equal world.