GENDER PAY GAP
Women slip further behind men in pay stakes
Figures from the 2008 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) released by the Office of National Statistics show that women have slipped further behind men in the pay stakes.
The full-time gender pay gap has increased to 17.1%, up from 17%, while the part-time pay gap has risen from 35.8% to 36.6%.
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The Equality and Human Rights Commission estimated that the average woman who works full time will miss out on £369,000 over the course of her working life.
Gerwyn Davies, Public Policy Adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, warned that this presents a challenge to employers and policy makers but cautions against simplistically attributing the gap to poor employer practice. Davies said: "The figures showing that the pay gap between full-time male and female employees widened in the year to April is most disappointing and a blow to progress towards equality. The poor year for women in the workforce is further exacerbated by relatively small increases in the pay of part-time workers and public sector workers, categories of work where women are in the majority.”
He added: "The figures demonstrate that even greater effort will need to be made by employers and government to narrow the gap. But it is simplistic to conclude that the gender pay gap is the result of overt pay discrimination by employers. The gap mainly reflects variations in the type of jobs done by men and women, different working patterns and, in particular, the impact of child and elder care on women’s career choices and hours of work. All these factors need to be taken into account when devising changes to policy and practice designed to close the gap."
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The official Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) provides information about the levels, distribution and make-up of earnings and hours paid for employees within industries, occupations and regions.
The ASHE was developed to replace the New Earnings Survey (NES) in 2004. It contains UK data on earnings for employees by sex and full-time/part-time workers. Further breakdowns include by region, occupation, industry, region by occupation and age-groups. To find out more visit www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/product.asp?vlnk=13101.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission is a statutory body established under the Equality Act 2006, which took over the responsibilities of Commission for Racial Equality, Disability Rights Commission and Equal Opportunities Commission. To find out more visit www.equalityhumanrights.com.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has over 130,000 members and is the "leading professional institute for those involved in the management and development of people". The CIPD is located on the web at www.cipd.co.uk.