Gender pay gap improvement ‘has ground to a halt’

Posted 12/10/2010

Businesses could face more employment law tribunals after it was found that the gender pay gap in Britain is still not being addressed.

A survey carried out by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development discovered that equality between men and women seems to be “grinding to a halt”, with males now being paid an average of 16.4 per cent more than their female counterparts.

This increased to 27 per cent for women aged over 40, while female workers without formal qualifications face a 58 per cent loss of earnings during their lifetime.

Although the Equality Act 2010 was introduced recently, gender pay reporting has still not yet been implemented.

However, Charles Cotton, spokesperson for the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, commented: “While the Equality Act will help, it will not do a great deal if we really want significant progress.”

Instead, he recommended better careers advice and assistance for women from an early age.

In August, a survey from the Chartered Management Institute suggested that women could continue to face unequal pay at work for another 57 years at current rates.