Challenges and concerns for women post-pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis were the focus of an event held in Parliament, organised by Right to Learn, the national campaign which brings together further education, higher education, skills, and lifelong learning to look at new ideas and policies to drive the economy, social cohesion and life chances through the 2020s.
The event was introduced by the chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Adult Education, Margaret Greenwood MP, who said that a gender pay gap and class ceiling in many sectors for disadvantaged women had been exacerbated by Covid, its aftermath and cost-of-living crisis – and this event was timely. Gordon Marsden, former Shadow Higher Education, Further Education, and Skills Minister and a co-founder of Right to Learn, chaired the event and Professor Graeme Atherton from NEON/ University of West London and also a Right to Learn co-founder was in the audience.
A trio of speakers from the Learning and Work Institute (L&W), City and Guilds, and the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) presented their recent research and statistics affecting women. They also discussed Government policies and assessed the state of the Government’s Lifelong Learning Bill and its Lifelong Learning Entitlement.
