STIRLING women returning to work following career breaks are to receive funding support from the Scottish Government.

As part of the announcement, Stirling Council's Women into Work programme will receive £12,000 to help address the gender pay gap for at least six people in the local area by exploring flexible working practices to enable more equal caring responsibilities and balance caring and work.

In a motion at Holyrood, Stirling MSP Bruce Crawford 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.”