The DTI has today announced the appointment of Jenny Watson to the chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission.
Thirty years after the Sex Discrimination Act was passed Watson will herald a new alliance between women and men to achieve sex equality in her inaugural speech.
“Better support for families of all shapes and sizes is fast rising up the political agenda, fuelled by a powerful alliance of women and men – men who, our research proves, want to take on more of a leading role in looking after the children.
“We need to harness this alliance to achieve a new era of true equality; one which sees family relationships and the care and nurturing that accompanies these as positive, and something deserving of public support. Far too many parents and carers still pay a poverty penalty as they try to balance work and family life.”
Watson was first appointed as a commissioner of the EOC in 1999. She was deputy chair from 2000 and acting chair from July 2005.
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She replaces Julie Mellor who joined PricewaterhouseCoopers in July.
