The gender pay gap can cost women £210,000 over the course of their working lives once tax and national insurance is taken into account, according to the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC).
The EOC’s figures are based on the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings which reveals two measures for the gender pay gap.
When bonus payments are taken into account, the gender pay gap is 12.6 per cent but when based on basic pay alone – the preferred international measure – it stands at 17.2 per cent; up 0.1 per cent on 2005.
Jenny Watson, chairman of the EOC, said: “The pay gap, sadly, isn’t closing fast enough.
“In the generation since the Sex Discrimination Acts and the Equal Pay acts came into force, women have made great strides in the workplace.
“But the remaining pay gap suggests that our three decades-old laws, which rely heavily on women bringing costly individual legal cases to challenge inequality – have reached the limits of their usefulness.
“We need a new generation of laws placing a more active responsibility on employers to deliver equality for tomorrow’s generation – before they too miss out on much needed income.”
The government is currently reviewing all anti-discrimination legislation and a green paper is expected next year. The EOC is calling for a change in the law to require employers to take proactive steps to close the pay gap and conduct a simple equality check to review whether they have a gap and to take action where needed.
A pay gap can be caused by discrimination, lack of access to flexible working in better-paid jobs and occupational segregation.
ONS figures reveal that even in the 18-21 age group men earn an average of £2,282 per year. The gap widens significantly for people in their 30s, the time when UK women are more likely to have young children, even when they continue to work full-time.
The part-time pay gap, which compares women’s part-time earnings to men’s full-time earnings, has dropped to 37.6 per cent – from 38.4 per cent in 2005.
