UK gender equality long way off

July 26, 2007 - 0:0

LONDON (BBC) -- Equality between men and women is potentially ""generations away"", according to an Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) report.

The EOC said it would take another 45 years for women to receive a similar-sized pension to men. And the gap between part-time workers' hourly pay, and that of their full-time colleagues will take 25 years to close. Workplaces and services are designed for a time when women stayed at home, the EOC added. ""These startling indicators suggest that the reality of far too many men's and women's lives is out of step with their aspirations,"" Jenny Watson, chair of the EOC said. ""We are living in the midst of an unfinished social revolution,"" Ms Watson added. The EOC echoed last month's call made by the Fawcett Society for the government to do more to close the gender pay gap. But the report did note that British society had gone through substantial changes in the past 30 years, with parents sharing childcare responsibilities and women and men working more flexibly. In October, the EOC will be absorbed into the Commission for Equality and Human Rights