Gender Pay Gap Means Women Work Nearly Two Hours a Day for Free
A new study has highlighted pay imbalances across the UK’s professional workforce and has revealed that women earn 22% less than men working in equivalent full time roles; meaning they are ‘unpaid’ for an hour and 40 minutes each day – this adds up to a total of 57 working days every year.
The survey found that. For men and women of all ages and in all professional roles, the gender pay gap now stands at £8,524; with men earning an average of £39,136 and women earning £30,612. In 2014 the pay gap stood at £9,069 or 23%.
The pay gap rises to £14,943 for Senior or Director level staff – with men earning an average of £138,699 compared to the average for women of £123,756. The survey found women managers are also missing out across all levels when it comes to bonuses; with the average man’s bonus of £4,898 being almost twice that of the average woman’s bonus of £2,531.
The study also revealed that the pay gap gets wider as women grow older. Women aged 26 to 35 are paid 6% less than their male colleagues, rising to 20% for women ages 36 to 45. The gap further increases to 35% for women aged 46 to 60, equivalent to working 681 hours for free compared to their male colleagues. For women and men in their 60’s the pay gap expands to 38%.
The study highlighted the fact that older women aren’t only earning less, but there are fewer of them in Executive positions. Even though women make up 67% of the workforce in entry level roles, and continue to outnumber men in Junior Management roles, female representation drops to 43% at the level of Senior Management. Just 29% of Director level posts are held by women.
While some progress is being made, an entire generation has now worked its way through from leaving school to retirement since the first Equal Pay Legislation came into effect in 1970, yet the gender gap persists, and many employers still prefer not to know just how bad it is in their organisation, rather than getting to grips with the reality and doing something about it.
The pay gap shown seems to be widest for employees of organisations between 250 and 999 staff, with women earning on average 27% less working for these employers – making them 5% worse off than even the National average.
However, new legislation coming into force in 2016 will require organisations with 250+ employees to report publicly on what they pay their male and female staff. More than 7,850 organisations, which collectively employ over 11.2 million staff (40% of the UK’s workforce) will be affected by the new legislation.
Source: ri5.co.uk
