PAY DISCRIMINATION
Gender pay gap narrowed in 2003
Government figures show that the gender pay gap narrowed by one percentage point in 2003. According to research by Incomes Data Services, this was above the trend rate of a gradual 0.5 percentage point narrowing each year over the past 20 years and reverses a slight widening of the gap last year.
The standard measure of the gender pay gap in the British economy is the difference between the average hourly earnings excluding overtime for full-time men and full-time women. The latest official figures show that average hourly earnings excluding overtime for full-time women were £10.56 compared to £12.88 for full-time men. This means the gender pay gap is currently 18%.
Within particular occupations, the pay gap emerges at its widest among retail and wholesale managers (where men's average hourly earnings were some 32% higher than women's). At the other end of the spectrum, among checkout operators and retail cashiers women's average hourly earnings were 5% higher than men's.
Want to know more?
Title: "The gender pay gap", IDS Report 895, December 2003, Incomes Data Services.
Availability: To subscribe to IDS Report call IDS customer services in London, tel: 020 7250 3434. You can download the full six-page article in PDF format at www.incomesdata.co.uk/pressrel/pr031208.htm
Incomes Data Services is an independent research organisation providing information and analysis on pay, conditions, pensions, employment law and personnel policy and practice in the UK and rest of Europe. For more information about IDS jump to www.incomesdata.co.uk
Posted 5 January 2004