Narrowing of the gender pay gap in the UK

HR Review reported on the 1st March 10 that
The recent narrowing of the gender pay gap in the UK has been called “negligible” by one sector commentator – which could lead to an increase in concern surrounding salary discrimination.

Figures recently released by the Office for National Statistics show that the overall gender pay gap for both part-time and full-time workers narrowed by 2.5 per cent compared to last year.

This means the gender pay gap for full-time workers has decreased to 12.2 per cent from 12.6 per cent in 2008, a fall of 0.4 per cent.

Meanwhile, for part-time staff the negative gender pay difference narrowed to -2.0 per cent compared with -3.7 per cent the previous year.

However, commenting n the research, Karen Gill, MBE, co-founder of everywoman, suggested there could still be improvement.

“This is a key part of the everywoman manifesto, although there has been a slight move towards improving this gap, in real terms this is negligible and there’s still a way to go,” she said.

According to the National Equality Panel, women’s median hourly pay is 21 per cent less than men’s.

Source: HR Review Diversity and Equality section - Contact jml Training and Consultancy for your Diversity and Equality Training at: http://www.jml-training.com/Diversity.htm