The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is calling for significant action to be taken on pay inequality as its research shows that women’s educational success does not translate into rewards in the workplace. Immediately after university, the inequalities are stark, with women taking home between £15,000 and £23,000 on average, compared with male starting salaries of more than £24,000.
The pay gap is persistently high even in cases where male and female graduates study the same subject at the same university, particularly in law, where women can expect an average starting salary of £20,000, compared with the £28,000 average for men. Pay inequality exists at all levels of salary and age – for example, the average hourly pay of women in Britain in 2013 was £10.33, well below the £12.91 received by men.
Occupational gender segregation persists, the EHRC figures show, with men twice as likely to be in managerial or director level positions than women. Conversely, women are much more likely to be on so-called zero hours contracts.
Laura Carstensen, commissioner at the EHRC, said:
‘We cannot continue to accept that a woman embarking upon her working life can expect to be paid less because of her sex. This unfairness won’t damage her alone but also those dependent on her and ultimately the enterprises and economy of this country which will fail to harness and reward all of our best talent.’