You'd think recent reports telling us that unemployment figures are down, that would result in more people have jobs. However, even though the number of people in work rose by 167,000 compared to last year, this employment is either not the sort of employment we count as a proper job – low-paid, zero-hour contracts (more on that later) or part-time - or affecting men way more than women.
Because another report, done by the Fawcett Society, who look out for women's rights and representation, says that over 820,000 more women have moved into low-paid jobs since the beginning of the recession in 2008. One in eight of these women are on zero-hour contracts, too, reports the BBC, which means that they work at places on an ad-hoc basis and, if not chosen to work that day, or needed for work that day, could go without pay.
These figures means the gender pay gap stands at a whopping 19.1% – men earn on average 19.1% more than women.
We'd sort of like to see how many men have been forced into working low-paid jobs, just to be able to make that comparison, but as Dr Eva Neitzert, the deputy chief executive at the Fawcett society puts it: 'The evidence is clear, after five years of decline, the UK economy is back on the upswing. Employment is up, unemployment is down and GDP is improving.
'However, as our research shows, low-paid women are being firmly shut out of the recovery. The numbers of women in low-paid, insecure work are still alarmingly high.'
Gloria de Piero, Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities said: 'It's clear that this isn't a recovery for working women. Under David Cameron and Nick Clegg, more women are struggling on low pay, in insecure jobs and not getting the hours they and their families need.'
And the Women's Minister, Nicky Morgan, has responded to news of the report with: 'We're committed to delivering a long-term economic plan that works for women,' then details about what the government is doing to help women who have kids, and mentions that for women under 40 in full time work, the gender pay gap is 'almost zero.'
READ MORE: Enough Of This Gender Pay Gap Bullshit. Let's Do Something About It
However, not all women are mums, and we sort of want to know a bit more about young women in (or out) of work? Because it looks like they're being affected by the assumption that all women end up having babies. In fact, 40 per cent of managers will avoid hiring young women so that they won't have to provide maternity leave pay should the time arise. Is this resulting in young women left to do part-time, low-paid or zero-hours jobs? If so, what's being done to help them out?
Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophwilkinson
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.