Skip to main content
Women are ‘bearing the brunt’ of exploitative zero-hours contracts
A woman showing signs of depression (picture posed by a model)

WOMEN are bearing the brunt of exploitative zero-hours contracts, which are “hindering progress towards gender equality,” according to research by the TUC released today.

The union body found that women are 34 per cent more likely than men to be working under such precarious terms, with black and minority ethnic (BME) and disabled women among the worst affected.

Publication of the findings came after trade unionists gathered in central London yesterday at the annual TUC’s Women’s Conference.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
A woman holding the feet of a new baby
International Women’s Day 2026 / 7 March 2026
7 March 2026

Comments from Matt Goodwin and Danny Kruger expose a reactionary vision in which falling birth rates are blamed on women, says JUDITH CAZORLA

NHS resident doctors protest outside Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, as resident doctors in England, formerly referred to as junior doctors, begin a five-day strike after talks with the Government collapsed over pay. Picture date: Friday July 25, 2025
TUC Congress 2025 / 8 September 2025
8 September 2025

Labour’s watered-down legislation won’t protect us from unfair dismissal or ban some zero-hours contracts until 2027  — leaving millions of young people vulnerable to the populist right’s appeal, warns TUC young workers chair FRASER MCGUIRE

Workers' Rights / 1 July 2025
1 July 2025