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Gender pay gap still as high as 50%, UK survey says

by generaldecay | October 31, 2009 at 12:13 pm

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Women are paid less than half as much as men in some parts of the UK, according to statistics published today that reveal huge regional variations in the pay gap between male and female workers.

Some recent reading had led me to believe that this was a situation that was improving. The evidence seemed to be indicating that the differences in pay for men and women were reducing and not increasing. These figures from a study conducted by the Fawcett Society suggest otherwise, and indeed indicate that in some parts of the UK men make twice as much as women in their pay packets.

Nationally, women earn an average of 21% an hour less than men for full- and part-time work. The Fawcett Society's data shows that this figure is 53% in West Somerset, while in Windsor and Maidenhead it is 49% and in South Northamptonshire 43%. The smallest gap is in Sevenoaks, Kent, where the difference is just 1%.

And in the few parts of the country where women make more than men, it is nowhere near 50%. I had no idea that the gap could be that wide.

Indeed, it seems that Britain is not doing well at all in terms of gender equality, and is falling in the 'league tables'.

The findings follow the revelation earlier this week that Britain has slipped down the international league table for gender equality again. It is now ranked 15th out of 130 countries in the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Index, having fallen from 13th last year and 9th in 2006. In terms of wage equality, the UK fared even worse, dropping to 78th in the world behind countries including Egypt, Malawi, Tajikistan and Malaysia.

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Roy C

at 13:00 on October 31st, 2009

Now, is this pay difference in the same job or are women paid less because they work jobs that get less pay?

We discuss this a lot in the US. Most our pay difference is because women don't want to paint bridges, fix cars, build houses, mine coal, or even work as police officers or firefighters in the same numbers as men, where the jobs simply pay more.

Barbara McPherson

at 14:19 on October 31st, 2009

I think that women also get left behind in the career department because they are still the principal caregivers for children and often elderly parents. It is still unusual for a family to move to support a woman's promotion, but not for a man. Women are often pressured to stay out of the well paying "men's" jobs. There's lots of on the job harassment in many fields.

Hugh Askew

at 15:49 on October 31st, 2009

Without trying to open another can of possibly grunting worms, isn't childbearing and rearing what women were originally created for?

From where i'm sitting (a chair), i don't see how men can be expected - or blamed for not giving birth, nursing, etc. Fairness, or equality has absolutely nothing to do with the biological facts.

Nor can, or should, companies be expected to treat those experiences as if they don't exist. Many women freely choose to stay out of the workforce until their children are raised. The results are lower wages over their lifetime. No discrimination needed, or practiced. Simply the way life is frequently.

Babel-Fish

at 15:17 on October 31st, 2009

Most of the low paid jobs are part time, its always been that way and Roy has hit the nail on the head. There are plenty of women in career rated employment the door is not closed to career minded women in UK.

158

at 16:11 on October 31st, 2009

There is still much to be done with this issue.

Roy C

at 18:29 on October 31st, 2009

Right now, the majority of college grads in the US are women. Women are the majority or near majority of law students, med students, dental students, and a well represented in business schools as well.

The next wave will on Wall St and in quite a few places elsewhere will be dominance by the women.