Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what safeguards are in place to protect women from a higher job loss rate than men as a result of economic damage from the covid-19 outbreak.

To help protect people’s jobs, the Government announced the unprecedented Coronavirus Job Retention, or “furlough”, Scheme (CJRS) to help firms keep millions of people in employment. In total, up to 31 October, almost 4.5 million female jobs had been supported through the scheme. The CJRS has been extended until the end of April.

Alongside this, the government has announced additional support for working parents. Any working parent usually eligible for Tax Free Childcare or 30 hours free childcare in receipt of support through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme or Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will temporarily remain eligible if they fall below the minimum income requirement due to COVID-19. This supports parents with childcare commitments who are temporarily working less as result of Covid-19.

In its Plan for Jobs, the Government has announced unprecedented support to help unemployed people in Great Britain find a job. We are providing £1.2bn this year to significantly expand and enhance work search support, including doubling the number of work coaches, additional investment into the Flexible Support Fund to provide direct support at a local level, and using externally contracted provision to expand support even further.

This Spending Review builds on this by providing £3.6 billion additional funding in 2021-22 for DWP to deliver employment support to those who need it most – from helping the recently unemployed to swiftly find new work, to offering greater support for people who will find that journey harder.

These measures will help provide job opportunities to women.