Men: Making more money for same work

Ahead of a Treasury summit on pay equality next week, new figures have shown the wage gap between women and men has not narrowed as quickly as thought.

Statistics from analysts Incomes Data Services released on Wednesday showed that the difference between the average hourly earnings of male and female employees in full time work was 19.5 per cent last year.

That was up on previous estimates which had put the gap at 18 per cent.

In addition the IDS data revealed that the gap was reduced by 1.7 per cent in the six years to 2003, instead of the two per cent experts has presumed.

The news highlighted the challenge facing ministers as they seek to introduce measures to encourage equality and boost women's pay.

Unions are calling for employers to be forced to hold mandatory pay audits, while campaigners claimed the statistics showed the UK economy is wasting talent.

Amicus national equality officer Linda McCulloch said: "Thirty years on from the Equal Pay Act women in the UK are no nearer to achieving equal pay.

"The fact that the gender pay gap is actually widening across the board and stands as high as 43 per cent in some industry sectors, such as finance, is further evidence if it is needed that companies must be made to conduct mandatory pay audits to ensure fairness and transparency."

'Woeful'

And Equal Opportunities Commission Julie Mellor said: "Young women may be doing better than ever while at school but are set for a major disappointment in their pay packets when they start work.

"These figures tell us that the gap in average pay of men and women is even more woeful than we've previously thought.

"Unfairly rewarding or under-using women's skills, not only holds down women's pay but also leads to skills shortages which damages Britain's productivity."

But a spokesman for the Department of Trade and Industry said the new figures misrepresented progress that has been made.

"The gender pay gap is at its lowest since statistical analysis began in 1970," he said.

"These figures just represent a change in the Office of National Statistics' methodology.

"There was an under-representation of managerial jobs and an over-representation of administrative jobs in previous figures. This has now been rectified, hence the widening of the gap.

"It does not mean that the pay gap - something we are committed to eradicating - has got worse in one year, it means our measurement has got more accurate.

"We have set up the Women and Work Commission to bring together the best people and ideas to tackle the problem of the gender pay gap and make specific recommendations to government."