This report sets out the TUC's response to a call for evidence on a women’s health strategy, issued by the Department of Health and Social Care in April 2022.
It suggests that the health and wellbeing of women cannot be separated out from the
workplace. Good workplace terms and conditions and policies that support women at work are essential in supporting women’s health and women’s equality more broadly. However, women’s experiences in the workplace and the impact on their health, cannot be separated out from the discrimination and inequality women face more broadly in the labour market and across society.
The TUC's response therefore highlights specific challenges faced by women in the workplace and recommendations of how to tackle them, as well as highlighting broader structural issues that any health strategy for women must seek to address.
Recommendation are set out in relation to a number of issues, including pregnancy and maternal health in the workplace, low pay, insecure work, poverty, and the impact on women’s health, and supporting mental health.
TUC March 2023