Eddie's Blog

The Glass Ceiling - Women & Mums at Work

Jan 7, 2008, 11:30

Selected parts of an extensive article in You & Your Money magazine, Jan issue, "When Is The Best Time To Have Children?" by Lucy Taylor, saw their way into the general media and, taken outside of Lucy's piece, were out of context.  My comments were related to the facts that women continue to be discriminated against both at work in terms of relative pay, by flexibility and by sub-standard State policy particularly for working mothers.  When asked about when was the best time financially to have children I used the opportunity to stress that there isn't a best time because of the huge challenges women face.  Here's the backdrop:

• Men are paid Euro 2.37 per hour more than women at Euro 20.59 p.h. versus Euro 18.22.  Source: CSO December 07.  It's worse in health where women are paid 71% of men's rates and 68% in education.
• Discrimination also exists for foreign workers who are paid 20% less in most sectors.  In addition, older people looking for jobs will quickly report discrimination based on age as well as those with disabilities.  While all of this is illegal it nonetheless happens wholesale, in my view, and on the list is the working woman who chooses to have children.
• In the UK, where statutory maternity leave was extended from seven months to nine months (it is 26 weeks in Ireland), studies show that most women go back to work early prinicpally to preserve their careers.  Another study indicates that while 1 in 5 women work part-time this jumps to two-thirds after the first child and, tellingly, most are likely to choose work for which they are over qualified.
• According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies working mothers go through "several periods of unusually low wage growth when their children are born and reach school age."
• In Ireland the National Womens Council of Ireland expressed dismay at Budget 08 for just adding Euro 2 per week subsidy for children under 5 where childcare costs are running Euro 170 to Euro 190 per week.  In Ireland 20% of pay goes to childcare in this sector versus an EU average of 8%.  Childcare costs are regarded as a principal issue in gender employment equality.
• In the Dail itself only 13% are women rising to 19% for local councillors.  Only 6% of Secretary Generals in the Civil Service are women and 81% of all clerical grades are women.  The NWCI reckon that it will take 370 years at the current rate of progress for equal representation between men and women in the Dail and that our current ratio is equivalent to women representation in Subsaharan African governments.
• The Dail has a creche.  But where any employer subsidises creche costs it is treated as a benefit-in-kind in the hands of the working mother.  Where the facility is directly owned and provided by the employer no BIK arises.  How can this be regarded as pro-working mothers? 
• Womens groups say, and they are perfectly accurate in saying so, that the emphasis on long hours, where, on average, men work 38.4 hours per week and women work 30.9 hours, creates a long hours culture principally decided by men instead of a work life balance culture.  In this long hours culture taking maternity leave continues to be regarded as not taking a career seriously.

There is substantial evidence to indicate continuing discrimination against women in the workforce and womens organisations exist in many countries to tackle it.  In the magazine article I am simply stating the truth in response to an economic question about when is the best time to have children.  I said "the hard facts are that the economic value of women in the workforce goes down when they have children".  I don't believe this is fair or equitable, but it is a fact and not stating it as a fact would simply reinforce the myth that somehow women can have it all.  I further said "the media, magazines and TV are giving women the message that they can have it all - a family, a driving career and a body like Cindy Crawford.  There are a small minority that can do this, but they tend to be quite wealthy and have a massive support system.  Men couldn't do it either.  It is making women try to achieve the impossible.  Trying to keep up the pace and do everything means some women end up wrecking themselves with the best intentions."

Until there is universal childcare for under fives, or a huge moderation in creche costs, and a substantial acceleration in the equality reform agenda for women, it will simply remain the case that women, who are already discriminated against anyway at work, will be further discriminated against when they choose career breaks to have children.  This discrimination is, of course, illegal.  It is not in plain sight.  It is subtle, but it does exist and, in my view, it is pervasive.  To state that women are not economically disadvantaged when they take career breaks to have children would be the diplomatic and more politically correct thing to say except it would be untrue.  I hope my comments reinvogorate some more public debate on this long running matter for women.

Northern Rock Liquidity Crunch

Sep 14, 2007, 09:55

Northern Rock has Stg113bn in loan assets principally mortgages.  This is what it owns.  It has Stg24bn in deposits.  This is what it owes.  Consequently, its liabilities are 4 times covered by its assets.  This means it is a sound bank from a solvency perspective and has little chance of going bust.  Instead it has a liquidity problem as a fallout from the U.S. sub-prime debacle.  It cannot raise money on the wholesale market between banks.  It has consequently sought money from the lender of last resort, i.e. the Bank of England.  This is much like seeking a business seeking an overdraft from a bank to cover a short-term cash flow problem. 

My guess is that Northern Rock is now a take-over target and will be bought for its juicy assets, if its share price does not recover.  Logically, therefore, there is nothing unsound about the bank based on the information currently available as of Friday morning, 14th September and based on the statements issued by the UK Financial Regulator, responsible for its prudential supervision.

The emotional side however can be more important and over-ride financial logic.  There is nothing worse in finance than the fear of a bank bust.  In other words eliminating the extreme worry that some depositors will feel is more important than getting the extra rates of interest that Northern Rock has been paying in the Irish market.  So, if it will cause you sleep loss and stress, if you will be disturbed by ongoing media coverage, you should move to another bank.  The question is which one, because we simply don't know which banks are also vulnerable to the interbank credit squeeze. 

I would avoid banks who have aggressively lent to the Irish developer sector in particular, as these may become problems over the short-term and choose a mainstream bank with a good credit rating.  The irony is that in the absence of knowing where the virus from the sub-prime fallout has spread, we cannot entirely rely on credit rating agencies.  It is a timely reminder that there are no absolute guarantees even with banks.  The inevitable run on Northern Rock deposits will test its technology and service and this will test the strength of the support from the U.K. Regulator and the Bank of England.   

A Little off Piste?

Jul 4, 2007, 18:50

The Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, first in the Sunday Independent and repeated at the ICTU conference appears to be on a witch hunt in the media for critics, linking, it seems any type of criticism of Government economic policy and inaction to talking down the economy. It's a strange tactic. Perhaps Bertie, bruised by the media in the run up to the election, needs a holiday. While his tactics seem a little off piste he does have a point about excessive gloom which I think is linked to his political fear that the feel good factor is less buoyant as house prices stagnate and decline in spots. I editorialized on this issue in the March edition of You & Your Money magazine.

Congrats to The Green Party.

Jun 27, 2007, 15:12

A FF / PD / Green coalition of parties wasn't something the bookies had on low odds but, to be honest, I'd hoped for this outcome, mixing the pragmatism and cunning of FF, the high business ambitions of the PD's with the know-how and passion of the Greens on the environment and especially on Energy. The fall or rise of economies in the near future, I believe, will be predicated on how each is prepared for scarcity pricing on energy. After the Election, ( in the run up to which I had the opportunity to quiz the party leader leaders through TV3's Polls Apart), I penned this article for the Sunday Business Post,  stressing the urgency of accelerating our plans to become less oil dependent.

Eddie's Speech to the Green Party Conference

Feb 28, 2007, 09:36

Eddie recently addressed the Green Party Conference and his speech is included here. He spoke on switching the Emphasis to Scarcity Pricing after Peak Oil, Tackle the Twin Monsters and capturing the mood of the country. Click here for the full text of the speech

Breakthrough Consumer Website at Last

Nov 8, 2006, 15:02

See Press Releases for more info but to check out the new National Consumer Agency website take a peek at www.consumerconnect.ie

Saving Monthly without Risk

Oct 5, 2006, 08:03

Continued monthly saving to hit short term targets, like within seven years or so probably should be done without taking investment risk. But this means sacrificing returns above inflation for the non-volatility of cash deposit products. A number of these are on the market, each coming with terms and conditions. Among the best deals are AIB's very attractive monthly saver account and Bank of Scotland's competing offer. It's heartening to see one of Ireland's biggest banks competing aggressively in this way. 

Market Volatility

May 23, 2006, 14:15

Inflation fears and rising interest rates has given equity markets jitters despite the apparent strength of the business cycle worldwide and where, for example, there has been an increase in M&A activity.  It's impossible to call but it looks more like a re-adjustment before moving on, rather than a dead cat bounce before a bear market.  In either event equity investors should consider equities a very long-term asset.  The trick is to buy well and to hold through thick and thin rather than try to second guess market swings and roundabouts.  Staying in through thick and thin is lower risk ultimately because it doesn't involve trading in and out adding to the risk of getting things wrong.  So hang in there and think long-term. 

Turn your old mobiles into Nurses!

Feb 21, 2006, 19:58

Ring FREE 1850 525 545 and get your old clunkers to The Jack & Jill Foundation, an organisation that provides paediatric nursing care to 228 Irish famillies that have babies born with severe developmental problems.  Imagine there are 15 million unused mobiles knocking about - 15 million!  You can get a bin from Jack & Jill and set up a collection for all your work pals.  Jack & Jill can turn each one into a net Euro 7 and needs another 89,000 to hit its 100,000 target.  Old mobiles are recycled in France and save the environment from the damage caused principally from the batteries especially from cadmium so get going it's a great way to turn old useless mobiles into new mobile paediatric nurses and support a wonderful charity.  Even if you've just got one - ring 1850 525 545 to get it to Jack & Jill - it all helps.

Feather-Bedding Public Service Pensions

Feb 3, 2006, 07:35

The Finance Bill taxes retirement fund values that total over Euro 5m at 42%.  This ceiling, to be indexed annually at the Minister's discretion, is arrived at by using a multiple of about 30 times an imputed pension of two thirds the earnings cap of Euro 254k for tax relief into private retirement funds.

But, ho hum, when capital sums are to be calculated on public service pensions like those of past  Ministers, TD's and Senior Civil Servants the factor falls by one third to 20 times the golden pension benefits in the state sector which, arguably, should really be capitalised at 40 times because of their risk free nature and pegging to wage negotiations.  This is feather-bedding plain and simple.  Once again the Private sector is being disadvantaged by rule setting that's designed to keep public service pensions the best deal in town.  Hmmm, wonder if the capital value of these supercharged guaranteed pensions is factored in during benchmarking negotiations.  Gotta go, a pig just flew by.

Choppy Waters May Be Ahead

Dec 18, 2005, 09:43

The ERSI, credited with predicting the Celtic Tiger, don't like the look of the US debt mountain and see a potential threat to Irish property values.  Writing in the Sunday Business Post, I've elaborated on the bear view.  To read see Sunday Business Post Article.

Property Research Sources

Dec 17, 2005, 00:13

If you're just starting out and you want to familiarise youself with the wide market available there's tons of stuff you can read on property markets from Florida to Turkey.  For a list of reading material from Amazon and for access to an independent writer and property consultant who regularly writes features pieces on his travel and examinations of property markets for the Sunday Business Post and Irish Examiner check out Diarmaid Condon's site. http://www.diarmuidcondon.com/

Cape Verde a New Holiday Home Destination

Dec 7, 2005, 13:51

If the pilot fell asleep for about an hour on the way to The Canaries, you'd land in the Cape Verde Islands, a former Portuguese colony off the Senegal coast.  This is likely to be the hottest holiday home destination over the decade ahead with a superb climate and green field tourist industry.  On the cusp of major tourist infrastructural development by the Cape Verdian Government not only can you have an apartment or villa right on beautiful tropical beaches, but also scope for strong capital appreciation over the years ahead.  This is principally second home investment and like any overseas property purchase should not be undertaken lightly so consider it carefully and bear in mind that property prices can fall just like any other asset class.  You should not invest in overseas property unless you can weather potential price falls, rent shortfalls and borrowing costs with room to spare.  Do not invest on the back of interest only borrowings on Irish homes already leveraged to the hilt especially if you rely on earned income from a sector of the Irish economy heavily exposed to the threat of subsitution from low cost competitors like China.

Cape Verde is principally a holiday home play and probably not yet a rental play although the rental market will inevitably develop.  It is ideal for Irish investors with strong balance sheets and cash available in the price range EUR120k plus.  Irish property professionals have the groundwork already well prepared and Cape Verde Development, based in Kinsale, provides a well thought through information pack including tax treatment in Cape Verde and at home.    Check out Cape Verde Development.

COMREG Launches New Mobile Costs Website

Nov 10, 2005, 10:18

Communications watchdog ComReg launched an excellent mobile phone costs comparison engine www.callcosts.ie, which, for the first time, allows consumers to shop the market for the best mobile package and save money.  Hitherto, this exercise was like looking into the back of a computer, but now you can undertake precise cost comparisons which is an absolute must for small businesses and consumers.