It’s Women’s Pay Day
The average woman effectively works for free for nearly two months of the year compared to the average man, according to analysis published by the TUC.
Friday 25 February is the day when the average woman starts getting paid compared to the average man, the TUC’s analysis shows. At current rates of progress, it will take nearly 30 more years to close the gender pay gap.
The gender pay gap (GPG) for all employees is 15.4 per cent. This pay gap means that women wait 56 days before they start to get paid on Women’s Pay Day today. Despite the introduction of gender pay gap reporting, the analysis published by the TUC today shows there are still big gender pay gaps in many industries. Even in jobs that tend to be dominated by female workers such as education and social care the gender pay gap persists.
Any organisation with 250 or more employees must publish and report specific figures about their gender pay gap to the government website. The NUJ believes that all organisations, whatever their size, should collect the data. Chapels can download this template letter so they can work with their employer to reduce the gender pay gap.
Industrial sector GPGs
In these sectors women get paid much less per hour on average than men, both because they are more likely to be in part-time jobs or are in lower-paid roles. In education the gender pay gap is 25.4 per cent, so the average woman effectively works for free for more than a quarter of the year (93 days) and has to wait until Saturday 2 April 2022 before she starts getting paid compared to the average man.
In health care and social work jobs, where the gender pay gap is 18.3 per cent, the average woman waits 67 days for her Women’s Pay Day on Monday 7 March 2022. The longest wait for Women’s Pay Day comes in finance and insurance. The gender pay gap (32.3 per cent) is the equivalent of 118 days, meaning it’s nearly a third of the year before Women’s Pay Day finally kicks in on 27 April 2022.
Generational GPGs
The TUC analysis shows that the gender pay gap is widest for older women, so they have to wait longer for their Women’s Pay Day. Women aged between 40 and 49 have a pay gap of 21.3 per cent and work for free until Friday 18 March 2022. And women aged 50 and 59 have the highest gender pay gap (21.8 per cent). They work 80 days of the year for free before they are paid on Sunday 20 March 2022.
Regional GPGs
The analysis also shows that in some parts of the country gender pay gaps are even bigger, so their Women’s Pay Day is later in the year. The gender pay gap is largest in the South east (18.9 per cent). Women in this region work 69 days for free and their pay day isn’t until Wednesday 9 March.
Frances O’Grady, TUC general secretary, said:
“It’s shocking that working women still don’t have pay parity. At current rates of progress, it will take nearly 30 more years to close the gender pay gap. It’s clear that just publishing gender pay gaps isn’t enough. Companies must be required to explain what steps they’ll take to close their gender pay gaps – and bosses who don’t comply with the law should be fined.
“The last two years have shown us that employers can do more to help women balance caring responsibilities and work. Flexible working is vital to mums keeping their jobs and progressing at work and is our best chance of closing the gender pay gap. All jobs must be advertised with the possible flexible options clearly stated, and all workers must have the legal right to work flexibly from their first day in a job. We need a complete overhaul of the shared parental leave system.”