Funding assistance

New £12,000 funding could help several Stirling women return to work.

The Scottish Government has announced funding support for women in the Stirling area returning to work following career breaks.

Employability Minister, Jamie Hepburn, announced last week the recipients of the Scottish Government’s Returners Fund Grant after meeting with returners, interns and staff from Adopt an Intern programme at the premises of employer partners, Future X.

As part of the announcement Stirling Council’s ‘Women into Work’ project will receive £12,000.

It will help address the gender pay gap for at least six women returners in the Stirling area by exploring flexible working practices to enable more equal caring responsibilities and balance caring and work, aiming to prevent a pay penalty.

Stirling MSP Bruce Crawford has submitted a motion to the Scottish Parliament welcoming the move.

He said: “Evidence suggests that there are a number of barriers that many women face when it comes to returning to work – such as a ‘motherhood penalty’ for those returning after maternity leave.

“This funding commitment will help to address many of the personal restraints that women can often face when returning to work – aiming to prevent a pay penalty as a result.

“The SNP Scottish Government is committed to identifying and addressing the issues preventing women re-entering the workforce, particularly in rebuilding skills, knowledge, and confidence while enabling employers to gain from recruiting and retaining skilled and experienced staff.

“Scotland continues to outperform the rest of the UK in terms of female employment – however there is a lot more work we can do to address some of the barriers to work that returners are encountering.”