The facts around equal pay

It’s nearly 40 years since equal pay legislation came into force in the UK.

But women working full-time earn on average 17% less per hour than men working full-time. For ethnic minority women, the gap is even higher at 20%. For women working part-time compared to men working full-time the gap is 36% per hour – rising to 45% in London.

Equal pay is a fundamental right! With the forthcoming Equality Bill, now is the time to act to close the gender pay gap.

Why do we have pay gaps?

There are three main reasons. Firstly, there's straight-forward discrimination by employers – paying women less than men to do the same job. Some researchers estimate that straightforward discriminate accounts for up to 40% of the pay gap.

Secondly, work traditionally done by women is still paid less. For instance, a nurse is paid less than a police officer.

Thirdly, the UK has one of the longest working hours’ cultures in the EU, and as long as women shoulder the majority of parenting and caring responsibilities, women are unable to compete in the UK workplace.

What’s Fawcett’s solution?

To create a society in which women and men are fairly rewarded for their work and able to choose how they divide earning and caring responsibilities, we need some major changes.

• Mandatory pay audits for all organisations.

• The Government to set dates for finally closing the pay gap

• Full sign-up to EU law restricting working hours, so that those with caring responsibilities can better balance work and home.

• More flexible working at all levels, so that part-time work, doesn't have to mean low-paid work

• Allow equal pay cases to be brought by group action so individuals don’t have to go out on a limb. Enable ethnic minority women who have experienced ‘double discrimination’ to bring a case on more than one ground.