Women still paid less than men at four out of five employers in UK
Four out of five companies and organisations in the UK still pay their male employees more than female ones, according to Guardian analysis of the government’s gender pay gap reporting.
The median pay gap remains stubbornly wide at 9.4% – the same level as in 2017-18, when employers were first required to publish the information. About 10,000 companies and public bodies filed their gender pay gaps to the government’s reporting mechanism before this week’s deadline.
The gap remains larger in the public sector at 15.1%. This compares with 8% in the private sector, and both are broadly similar to last year’s figures.
In almost half of companies and public bodies male employees are paid at least 10% more than their female counterparts. This compares with just 3% where women are paid 10% more than men.
Only one in 10 pay female and male employees equivalent wages (where the difference is zero or less than 0.5% in either direction).
Campaigners have expressed frustration and disappointment at the lack of movement in the pay gap despite the reporting process, which was meant to help close it by ensuring all employers with 250 or more employees put this information into the public domain.
The Fawcett Society, which campaigns for gender equality, said it was disappointing that progress on closing the gap had all but stagnated. The UK is behind countries such as France, Belgium, and Sweden in making employers address gender pay gaps directly.
“If we are to see meaningful progress on closing the pervasive pay gap, employers must go further than data sharing,” it said. “We want this government to require every employer to create an action plan which sets out how they will improve gender equality in their workplace. Many do, but it is not
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