Professor Jill Rubery says the UK "stands out as paying the least amount to homecare workers of all countries".

On improvements in the gender pay gap, she says a lot of it is down to a " depression of men's pay", cautioning that "that's not the kind of progress we want to make".

She argues that employers' attitudes towards men need to change as much as to women.

Baroness Wolf says some women in low-paid work who have "major care responsibilities" can find it impacts on their ability to get back into the workforce, or to progress their career. She suggests as a solution subsidies for care that are "more portable".

Professor Jill Rubery, from Manchester University, says women often get allocated to less productive jobs when they return to work on a part-time basis after maternity leave, because of an "assumption" that they are less productive.

She argues that people should be able to assessed for their productivity rather than it being assumed that they're not interested in career progression.

Women still have a lot to offer in the careers even if they've taken a short career break, she adds.

House of Commons
Parliament

The chief executive of Talk Talk, Dido Harding, has been giving evidence to MPs on the Culture, Sport and Media Committee about cyber security and the threat from hacking. The telecoms firm suffered a major breach of security in October when its IT systems were penetrated and millions of customers account details were made public. You can follow what she has been saying on our Westminster Live page. 

Dr Alison Parken, from Cardiff University, adds that the situation is different at the bottom end of the labour market, telling MPs women are on lower pay and lower hours than the full-time hourly average.

She cites figures suggesting there's a 36% pay gap between the average hourly earning of part-time women and men working full-time.

The bottom end of the labour market is a "sludge", she adds.

Chris Giles, FT economics editor, tells the Commons Women and Equalities Committee progress has been made on the gender pay gap, which he says has disappeared, in the median, for women in full-time work in the 20s and 30s.

He adds that the gender pay gap has "halved" for women in their 40s, but there's been "no improvement" for women in their 50s. But he warns of the "extreme damage" caused by a short-term move to part-time work:

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Here's a rundown, external of what happening in the Commons later. Proceedings will start at 11.30 GMT with Business Questions, with Business Secretary Sajid Javid and his ministers fielding questions from MPs. Next up, Frank Field will put forward a bill on extending free school meals to more children. The main event of the day is an opposition debate on flooding and climate change. Wrapping things up, there is an adjournment debate secured by Labour MP Cat Smith on transgender prisons. 

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The Commons Women and Equalities Committee is about to hold a session on the gender pay gap. They'll be questioning witnesses about the causes of the pay gap between men and women, aand what can be done to address it.

This will be followed by evidence on the economic and business implications of reducing the gender pay gap.

Among those to appear before the panel of MPs today are:

• Chris Giles, the FT's economics editor
• Dr Alison Parken, Women Adding Value to the Economy (WAVE), Cardiff University
• Professor Jill Rubery, Manchester University
• Sheila Wild, founder of Equal Pay Portal
• Professor Alison Wolf, Kings College London
• CBI director Neil Carberry
• Ann Francke, chief executive of Chartered Management Institute (CMI)
• Monika Queisser, head of social policy at the OECD

Chancellor George Osborne has been tweeting about his visit to Great Ormond Street children's hospital this morning. He was there ostensibly to launch a plan for greater devolution of health and care services across London.  

Nigel Farage and Carwyn Jones will take part in a head-to-head debate on the UK's membership of the European Union. 

The UKIP leader and Welsh first minister will lock horns on 11 January at an event in Cardiff.

Mr Jones has launched Welsh Labour's campaign for the UK to stay in the EU ahead of a promised referendum.

In spring 2014 Mr Farage held two debates with the then deputy prime minister Nick Clegg in the run-up to the European Parliament elections.

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Willie Walsh, the man who runs BA's parent company, has threatened to take his "business elsewhere" if the government does not make a definitive decision soon on airport capacity in the south-east of England, Writing in the Daily Mail, external, Mr Walsh - head of the International Airlines Group - says he was not surprised by the further delay over a decision on whether to expand Heathrow and Gatwick, saying the current situation is "a problem almost entirely of the prime minister's own making" after his pledge before the 2010 election not to allow a new runway at Heathrow. And he says he is not hopeful of an outcome next summer. He writes.

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Plans to overhaul the way health and social care services are delivered across London have been announced by Chancellor George Osborne and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt. Ministers have signed an agreement with the capital’s health and civic leaders paving the way for them to gradually take control of their own affairs. The process will begin with pilots in five areas: Haringey; Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge; Lewisham; Hackney and a consortium of five councils in north London. Read more about this, external. Mr Osborne said. 

Some breaking economic news: The rate of Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rose to 0.1% in November from minus 0.1% in October, official figures have shown.

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According to former Sunday Times political editor Isabel Oakeshott, talks between the two groups campaigning for the UK to leave the EU - Vote Leave and Leave.eu - have broken down "amid continuing mistrust between the key players". Writing on Conservative Home, external, she says a recent meeting between the two groups could not break the deadlock between them and considers the implications of this "stalemate" for the upcoming referendum. She concludes. 

Labour MP Frank Field will put forward a bill in the Commons later to tackle what he describes as "term-time hunger". It would put a statutory duty on all councils to identify and register the estimated 160,000 youngsters who are eligible for a free hot meal because of their family circumstances who currently do not receive it. It aims to correct the anomaly whereby families have to apply for free school meals rather than be automatically granted them on grounds of their family income. According to the Huffington Post, external, the bill has the backing of 125 MPs from all parties.