UK gender pay divide widens

The gap between what men and women are paid is starting to widen again after a decade of movement in the direction of equality, the Women and Work Commission said yesterday. The thinktank, set up in 2004, highlighted the pay divide in a follow-up report on workplace discrimination. It concluded that although ministers had made good progress, they had failed to achieve "fundamental change".

Women are paid 22.6% an hour less than men, according to the figures for median earnings, which take into account full-time and part-time work, it said. "Although this has fallen from 27.5% over the last 10 years … progress is stalling. The number has even risen slightly since 2007, when it was 21.9%. This is also the case for the full-time gender pay gap, which stood at 12.5% in 2007 but is now 12.8%."