Despite all the women's rights fights and legislation, two new studies released today show that female employees are still falling way behind men for wages and opportunities in the workplace.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has published a paper called The Gender Wage Gap, which finds that the hourly wages of female employees are currently about 18% lower than men's on average; and that, while men's wages tend to grow rapidly in between their late 20s and early thirties, women's wages remain roughly static.
While having children was looked at as a factor, the study found that "There is, on average, a gap of over 10% even before the arrival of the first child". It adds that "by the time the first child is aged 12, women's hourly wages are a third below men's".
The research backs up Jeremy Corbyn's pronouncement in a July speech that "Last year Britain was ranked 18th in the world for its gender pay gap... We can and must do far better". Even Theresa May noted in her first speech on becoming Prime Minister that "If you're a woman, you will earn less than a man."
The IFS study aimed to "understand gender wage gap and its relationship to poverty", and adds that "poverty is increasingly a problem of low pay rather than lack of employment."
This is because in two thirds of households with children in poverty, someone is in paid work – and, as the study states, "female employment has risen especially quickly, particularly among lone parents".
Meanwhile, the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) has also published its annual Gender Salary Survey, which shows that in the North West the wage gap is even wider... "the gender pay gap stands at 23.1%, representing a £7,948 difference between genders and a slight increase over the last 12 months", it states.
"The average full-time equivalent salary for male managers now stands at £38,817, £8,964 more than the average female manager's" it adds "The pay gap is even higher for those in the ranks of director and CEO, with men on an average basic salary of £131,673 earning £16,513 more than women at the same level."
The report, based on analysis of salary data of more than 60,000 UK employees, found that in the past year, 14% of men in management roles were promoted into higher positions compared to 10% of women, and concludes that male managers are 40% more likely than female managers to be promoted into higher roles.
The report also found that there are fewer women in executive positions than men – that, "while women comprise 73% of the workforce in entry and junior level roles, female representation drops to 42% at the level of senior management".
One Salford mum told the Salford Star this afternoon... "I recently got made redundant from a full time job and, while my former male colleagues all got new jobs on the same or greater salaries, my former female colleagues all had to take big wage cuts to get jobs, despite them usually being the main bread winner in their households."
All rather shocking in this day and age...So what are the politicians going to about it? Sweet FA, as usual no doubt...
* To read the IFS Report - click here
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
(3).jpeg)
.png)
(1).JPG)
