The gender pay gap has changed very little in the last decade.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the difference in the average salary between men and women has barely changed since figures were first published in 1997. On average, men take home around £567 per week, while women earn £471; a difference of around £100.
Image via BBC News
This figure relates to full time workers. Among those working part time, women actually earn more than men. This gap increased to 6.5% more than men this year (up from 5.5% in 2014). Despite this, women in full time work currently earn 9.4% less than men.
Time and Reform
The Trade Union Centre (TUC) claims that it may be 50 years before men and women have equal pay in full time work, due to the recent slow-down in closing the gap. In an attempt to tackle the gender pay divide, the government will introduce legislation which requires businesses to publish pay details of their male and female employees. Companies employing over 250 people will have to show the average wage rates for men and women in their organisations.
Bucking The Trend
While the pay gap is only slowly closing in the UK, it is actually getting bigger worldwide. The extent of the pay gap in the UK is detailed here, with London's average salary for a man totalling £21,070 more per year than the average woman's. The pay gap is an issue in the UK, however the signs that it will be closed eventually are encouraging. The government appears keen to rectify this inequality, and the UK as a whole is bucking the worldwide trend. With the average man's pay standing so much higher than woman's however, there is still a lot of work to be done.
