Alison Steed is a multi-award winning journalist and commentator on financial issues, and she is also the owner of the personal finance website for women and families www.MyMoneyDiva.com. The opinions expressed are her own. Thomson Reuters will host an International Women’s Day follow-the-sun live blog on March 8, 2011

The fact that today sees 100 years of International Women’s Day is testament to just how influential this celebration of women’s empowerment around the world is. To think that within the last century women were being abused by the authorities for the belief in their cause – that women should be given the vote in both the UK and U.S. – when now it would seem abhorrent to not allow this. How far we have come.

But the reality is, there is still some way to go. The Lord Davies report into women in the boardroom could ultimately be the biggest fillip to women being given the same voice in the corporate world as they now have in most places in the wider world.

The idea that even though women make up more than half of the population in the UK, yet around half of FTSE 250 companies do not have a single woman on their boards, and just one sixth of FTSE 100 companies have a woman on the board, is not acceptable.

Lord Davies of Abersoch has told firms to more than double the number of women sitting on boards before 2015, otherwise they face the prospect of quotas which will force the issue.

While this would achieve an aim, I am not sure it is the best way to achieve the result – far better that the companies are promoting women on merit, rather than having to push women through to comply with a new regulation. I am not in favour of someone doing a job for the sake of it, but we all know women in corporate roles who are not only more than capable of taking on a board position, but would actually improve the performance of the company no end. So why are they not getting the chance?

- Alison Steed is the editor of the personal finance website for women and families MyMoneyDiva.com. The opinions expressed are her own. Reuters will host a “follow-the-sun” live blog on Monday, March 8, 2010, International Women’s Day. -

Women have often been given a bad deal when it comes to work, whether we like it or not.

That, to me, is encapsulated in the fact that despite there being an Equal Pay Act in place in the UK since 1970, women still earn on average 17 percent less per hour than men for doing the equivalent role in the workplace, according to figures from The Fawcett Society.

Let’s not get confused here. This is not about women working part-time when men are working full time. This is the average gap for men and women working full time.

If you want to talk part-time, no problem – the figures actually get worse. The average woman is being paid 36 per cent less – more than a third – than a man doing the equivalent part-time role. When you get into London, this rises to 45 per cent – almost half, according to The Fawcett Society.

So what is going on here? A number of things really. Experts estimate that 40 per cent of the pay gap is down to old-fashioned discrimination on the part of employers. Add to that the reality that women are still, in many cases, primarily responsible for the role of caring for the family, and it makes it hard to do the extra hours that some men can take for granted.

I’m sure plenty of people will disagree with what I am saying, many will agree – but let’s get one thing clear. This pay gap is still here because of two things: the government is not enforcing pay equality at present, even though we have had 40 years – and governments of a variety of hues – who could easily have sorted it out.

-Alison Steed is editor and co-founder of the personal finance website for women MyMoneyDiva.com. The opinions expressed are her own.-

The battle lines are already being drawn in this election year. Although none of us knows for sure when the election will be, there are signs that “May” is going to be a significant month.

Winning the hearts and minds of the nation is key winning an election, and as it stands, there is plenty of work to be done there for all parts of the community. A televised debate for the first time in the UK will change the way the election is fought, although it seems slightly pathetic that our politicians want the debates “themed” so they can swot up on the answers beforehand.

No doubt we will hear the same platitudes trotted out about the need to return to “family values” and that “educashun” is paramount, that “schoolsanhospitals” need more cash than they are already getting. With the country’s national debt rising by around 4,835 pounds a second cuts are needed, and are being talked about, but are unlikely to win votes.

Families have been a focus of the incumbent government to try and win the hearts and minds of the nation throughout its 12-year tenure. Yet as with so many things in politics, what is said to be a stated aim is so often contradicted by the action that succeeds it.

Tax credits are a prime example. With a system so complicated that the only person I know who understands it properly is an accountant who decided to learn Mandarin “for fun”, is it any wonder that so many problems have occurred?

Constant overpayments, the pressure of families to repay tax credits that have been wrongly calculated – and yes, they are supposed to work out for themselves how much they are due – not to mention the fact that what is due is worked out on the basis of earnings a year behind the current year, because of the way the system is set up.