Fawcett Society

Governance

The Society's Chief Executive is Penny East, who joined in May 2025. Before then it was Jemima Olchawski, who joined in October 2021. The President of the Society in 2020 was Jenni Murray. The society's work is overseen by a board of Trustees. The current Chair is Fiona Mactaggart, appointed to the role in 2018. Trustees have included:

• Natalie Bennett
• Angela Mason (chair of the Society from 2007 to 2013)
• Lee Chalmers
• Joanne Cash

Governmental action

The Fawcett Society filed papers with the High Court of Justice seeking a judicial review of the June 2010 United Kingdom budget, contending that the Treasury did not fully assess the impact that budget cuts would affect different groups, as is required by law. An analysis of the budget found that women would be paying around £5.8 billion of the £8 billion of savings planned. Their judicial review was denied. In September 2020 the Society called upon the Chancellor to assist the childcare sector in the Autumn 2020 Comprehensive Spending Review, arguing that funds allocated to the UK's furlough scheme will have been wasted if parents are unable to work.

Gender pay gap

In October 2020 the Society and the Global Institute for Women's Leadership at King's College London co-published their joint report into legislation surrounding gender pay gap reporting. It found the UK lagged behind other countries in not requiring employers to produce a plan for addressing gender pay gaps, but praised the UK for its transparency and legislative compliance. The Society has been criticised by business groups for comparing average pay for full-time men with average-pay for part-time women to highlight the disparity, and a lack of transparency in making their methodology clear. The Society incorporated this criticism in its 2015 Gender Pay Gap methodology. The 2015 pay gap quoted was for full-time employees. The Society publicises an annual Equal Pay Day, marking the day that women in effect stop being paid when calculated using the full-time mean average gender pay gap. In September 2021 the Society published its analysis of the gender gap among local councillors in the UK, showing that only 34% of the 4,980 councillors elected in May that year were women.

T-Shirt and controversy

In October 2014, the Fawcett Society in association with Elle UK and the high street chain Whistles produced a new version of the society's "This Is What a Feminist Looks Like" T-shirt. Politicians who wore the shirt in public included Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg, and Harriet Harman, though Prime Minister David Cameron reportedly declined. The £45 shirt was produced in a Mauritian factory where it was believed migrant workers from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India and Vietnam were paid less than a pound a day, slept 16 to a room, and otherwise kept in sweatshop conditions. The Fawcett Society responded with a press release stating, "We remain confident that we took every practicable and reasonable step to ensure that the range would be ethically produced and await a fuller understanding of the circumstances under which the garments were produced." Fawcett were assured by Whistles that their suppliers were "fully audited".

Commission into public harms

Work starts in 2024 on a two year project, a commission into public harms, by both the Fawcett Society and the Black Equity Organisation, and supported by the Barrow Cadbury Trust. The aim is to research the harm done to women, especially Black and marginalised women, by public services such as the police, the health and education systems.

References

References

1. "London Society for Women's Service; 1919-1926; gender equality pressure group".
2. (2016-03-17). "Our history".
3. {{EW charity. 1108769. The Fawcett Society
4. (10 March 2017). "Who we are".
5. (22 March 2017). "Find a local group".
6. (2013-10-01). "Library - Library - Home". Lse.ac.uk.
7. London School of Economics and Political Science. "The Suffrage Interviews".
8. (6 May 2025). "Penny East Appointed as Fawcett's New Chief Executive".
9. Ricketts, Andy. (20 July 2020). "Fawcett Society chief to step down".
10. (19 May 2017). "Our people".
11. "The Fawcett Society". The Fawcett Society.
12. (19 May 2017). "Our trustees".
13. Rath, Kayte. (2012-09-03). "BBC News - Profile: Green Party leader Natalie Bennett". bbc.co.uk.
14. "Angela Mason - National Portrait Gallery".
15. "The Fawcett Society". The Fawcett Society.
16. Jacobs, Emma. (23 September 2020). "Childcare sectors in urgent need of funding, warn unions and parents".
17. Media, P. A.. (2020-10-13). "UK 'unique in its light-touch approach' to gender pay gap". The Guardian.
18. [http://www.thebusiness.co.uk/trading-floor/487086/jackie-ashleys-answer.thtml "Jackie Ashley's Answer"], ''The Business'', 5 February 2008. {{webarchive. link. (January 7, 2009)
19. Worstall, Tim. (2008-02-25). "The Fawcett Society on the Gender Pay Gap".
20. (2015-11-11). "Calculating the gender pay gap". Fawcett Society.
21. (2015-11-09). "Equal Pay Day". Fawcett Society.
22. Topping, Alexandra. (2020-11-20). "Women in mid-30s may never know equal pay in their working lives". The Guardian.
23. Davies, Caroline. (2021-05-03). "Concern as just a third of candidates in English local elections are women". The Guardian.
24. (2014-10-29). "Harriet Harman wears feminism T-shirt to prime minister's questions". The Guardian.
25. [https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-29868458 {{"'Sweatshop' claims over Fawcett Society slogan T-shirt"], [[BBC News]], 2 November 2014.
26. (2014-11-01). "'This is what a feminist looks like t-shirt': Fawcett Society Response". Fawcett Society.
27. (Autumn 2023). "Commission into public harms". [[StopGap]].