Podcasts from Women & Money presented by Sarah Pennells (1) related to Work - Pay & Conditions

Caring for a family member can be a high toll on your life, both emotionally and financially and research recently conducted by the Carer's Trust show that over half of carers in the UK were missing out on the financial support they should be entitled to, negatively effecting their lives and the lives of those who they care for. To talk to Sarah about what you can do if your looking after someone, she is joined by Sarah Mitchell from the London-based Carers Network, Caroline Shola Arewa, a wellness coach and Steve Webb, from Royal London.

Gender pay gap is still alive and kicking, with women earning 12% less than men. So how do you go about getting a pay rise or a promotion? Sarah Pennells is joined by Fiona Davis, Director for Women in Retail; Penny Parker, from Laurence Simons; and Vanessa Vallely, founder of WeAreTheCity and WeAreTheCity. Together, the guests discuss why women are less likely to ask for a pay rise, and why they are reluctant to come forward.

Sarah Pennells looks at what's changed for women in the last 90 years. She's joined by Jane Moore, from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales; Fiona Tait, from Royal London, and employment lawyer at Slater and Gordon Jasmine van Loggerenberg. From maternity pay in the 1970s to today's debate on equal gender pay, Sarah and her guests analyse the changes that have occurred throughout history to improve women's working rights.

Sarah Pennells looks at how to create the perfect work/life balance with guests Neil Shah, Chief De-Stressing Officer at the Stress Management Society, and life coach Karen Perkins, who discuss other factors that can increase stress, and Sarah Evans, an Employment Lawyer with Slater and Gordon, who looks at whether people should have the right to work flexibility and what employers should take into account.

If you're close to retirement, or thinking of setting up a pension pot, where do you start when it comes to choosing a private pension? Lorna Blythe, from Royal London, explains to Sarah Pennells what pensions are and how they work; Danisha Chada, a chartered and certified financial planner with Smith and Williamson, looks at how much help could a pension company give to its individual customers, Alan Chan, from IFS Wealth and Pensions, explains what the first steps are when taking out a pension for the first time.

An increasing number of people are choosing to live together, rather than get married or form a civil partnership. But, while it’s becoming more commonplace, the legal status of cohabiting couples remains something of a mystery to most of us. Sarah Pennells is joined in the studio by Mary Marvel of Advicenow and Law for Life, Paula Myers, a lawyer with Irwin Mitchell, and over the phone by Christine Webber, a writer, broadcaster and psychotherapist, to discuss the various different issues moving in with a partner can have, and how best to deal with them.

Sarah Pennells is joined in the studio by Jane King, an IFA at Ash-Ridge Private Finance, Adam Lake of Turn2Us, Tom Connor of Drewberry Insurance and over the phone by Alistair McQueen of Aviva, to discuss how to best protect your finances if you're self-employed and don't have the security of working for a large company or organisation. What are the benefits and drawbacks of being self-employed? Do the positives outweigh the negatives?

Sarah Pennells is joined in the studio by Alan Higham, founder of Pensions Champion, and Tina Weeks, founder of Serenity Financial Planning, to discuss the state pension, and look at what you will actually get if you're due to retire. Despite being called a flat rate or single tier pension, not everyone will necessarily get the same amount and far fewer women than men will qualify for the full figure of £155.65 a week. In the programme Sarah will be looking at who is entitled to the new state pension and the differences between the current and the new pension.

Sarah Pennells is joined by Tom Laws from the National Careers Service, and Adam Cox from Working From Home Week, to help discuss some of the benefits and drawbacks of working from home and how to be more productive during your time at home. They also discuss what to do whether you're thinking of setting up your own company to work from home, or just want to know what your rights are in asking to work from home.

Sarah Pennells is joined in the studio by Griselda Williams of TRUST|Pensions and on the phone with Debbie Houghton from the Rowan Organisation and Sarah-Jane Butler from Parental Choice to discuss how to set up a pension if you employee someone for help around the house or with your children such as a nanny, childminder, gardener or cleaner.