Women and banks: Are female customers facing discrimination?

Article

Given the evidence laid out in this paper, the UK government has a legal obligation to investigate the claim that banks may be discriminating against women.

While certain aspects of banks' behaviour - subprime lending, governance structures, oversight mechanisms and so on - have been interrogated in the wake of the 2008-09 financial crisis, how banks treated and continue to treat women customers is a subject that has received little attention. The findings of this research, however, point to the need to shine a spotlight on banks' practices in this area.

If it is found that women are indeed being discriminated against in the UK - something the research within this paper would suggest is very likely - the government is obliged by law to act upon such knowledge by prosecuting the banks involved, ensuring remedies to the victims involved, and enacting legislation and policies that proactively address the causes of this form of discrimination in order to eliminate it for good.

This report focuses on discrimination in two specific respects - against women entrepreneurs seeking business loans and women home-buyers seeking mortgage loans - and identifies a new category of potentially unlawful behaviour, concerning discrimination against would-be mortgage-holders who are pregnant and/or on maternity leave.

Related items

  1. Street scene in financial district, London

    Rule of the market: How to lower UK borrowing costs

    The UK is paying a premium on its borrowing costs that ‘economic fundamentals’, such as the sustainability of its public finances, cannot fully explain. 
  2. A mother and child from behind looking out of a window

    Restoring security: Understanding the effects of removing the two-child limit across the UK

    The government’s decision to lift the two-child limit marks one of the most significant changes to the social security system in a decade.
  3. A group of healthcare professionals sitting in a staff common room in a hospital in Newcastle

    Building a healthier, wealthier Britain: Launching the IPPR Centre for Health and Prosperity

    Following the success of our Commission on Health and Prosperity, IPPR is excited to launch the Centre for Health and Prosperity.