Kevin Rowan column
Jun 11 2007 By Kevin Rowan, The Journal
It is interesting to hear the `new' policy debates over the current election for deputy leader of the Labour Party. Among the areas of interest, housing policy is now being described by some as having arrived at "the top of the public policy agenda".
I am not sure about that, but the political escalation is welcome. The discourse of others is emphasising the imperative of attracting female votes, suggesting Labour could and should do more to deliver a new deal for women.
Most likely these are two of the hot political issues of the day. Maybe more importantly, they are among the most pressing economic issues too.
A lack of the right kind of housing in the right areas has a significant distorting impact on economic dynamism, at all levels of the labour market. At the top end, the inability to offer high quality, executive housing is a barrier to attracting the economic leaders, either industrial or academic, and the inward investment that follows them.
At the other end, a lack of affordable housing, public or private, makes access to the housing ladder much more difficult for young workers, limiting their mobility and opportunity and, as evidence shows, negatively impacting on aspiration and ambition.
And for low paid workers, housing costs are a big issue. Workers end up facing higher travel costs as they're in communities miles from where economic growth is concentrated, reducing benefit of working, impacting on ambition and enthusiasm.
The Government has introduced a plethora of policies to increase opportunity for women at work, from tax credits, flexible working for parents and carers, emphasising equal pay and seeking to tackle gender segregation. Inequality in the labour market, however, remains stubborn. Women and other under- served groups remain severely under- represented in senior or high-paying segments of the economy, but there are `green shoots' of improvement.
At the bottom end of the labour market, it is these same groups - women, ethnic minority communities, workers with disabilities - who endure the least rewarding work in the poorest conditions. Not surprisingly the contribution of this group of workers to the region's Gross Value Added is the lowest in the economy.
For all the policies, commitment and ambition of this Government, the economy is still grossly unequal and inequality has in fact increased. This is socially divisive, morally intolerable and also economically detrimental.
Experience, as well as common sense, tells us that when workers feel valued, included and appreciated, they work harder and deliver more. Inequality, of opportunity or outcomes, is still stubbornly demonstrated in the current UK labour market, is a barrier to worker commitment and a drag on growth and prosperity and it must, therefore, economically as well as politically, remain at the top of the agenda.
Kevin Rowan is regional secretary of the Northern TUC.
