Gender pay gap falls to 9.4%
21/11/2014
The average gender full-time pay gap is at it’s lowest since records began in 1997, official figures show.
The figures show that in April the pay gap still stood at 9.4%, but this was lower than the 10% gap a year earlier. This averages out to around £100 a week, according to the Office of National Statistics.
The figures show that this is due to men’s wages dropping faster than women’s in real terms. Weekly earnings fell by 1.6% compared to last year. The £1 rise in full-time median gross pay for men and women to £518 a week was the slowest rise since records began in this form in 1997.
Weekly earnings suggest men are paid more in all age groups, but hourly earnings show that women working for more than 30 hours a week, aged 22 to 29 years, were actually paid 1.1% more than men in the same bracket.
The gap for all workers, full time and part time, also fell to 19.1%. The TUC said the gap could be cut further with better paid, flexible, part-time work opportunities, and better paid leave for fathers to encourage more equal parenting.
The rights for parents to have equal leave will be extended next year, and the government has also invested in training and mentoring to encourage more women into higher paid, higher skilled jobs.
Chancellor George Osborne said the figures were "another sign of progress in the fight for equal pay".
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