They used to say life begins at 40 and as I turn 36 in November I hope this is true! Perhaps more importantly the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 reaches this important milestone soon and that prompted me to ask how far have we actually come? How far do we still have to go?

On the plus side a glance at the type of job adverts which were commonly placed in the 70s seeking (and I quote) "married women only" or suitable for "male aged 22-30" are long gone .

However, we still have a significant gender pay gap and a lack of diversity at senior levels particularly. Personally I also have a nagging doubt that maybe some have just got better at hiding their prejudices. Cynical I know.

Overall I suspect the 40 year report should read significant progress made but still work to do.

As the boundaries of what should be covered by discrimination laws continue to be pushed (obesity etc) the next 40 years will be interesting but we should never ignore continuing to try achieve the stated aims of the protections we already have.