The Great Debate UK
Battle over wages: the male-female wage gap
- Alison Steed is the editor of the personal finance website for women and families MyMoneyDiva.com. The opinions expressed are her own. Reuters will host a “follow-the-sun” live blog on Monday, March 8, 2010, International Women’s Day. -
Women have often been given a bad deal when it comes to work, whether we like it or not.
That, to me, is encapsulated in the fact that despite there being an Equal Pay Act in place in the UK since 1970, women still earn on average 17 percent less per hour than men for doing the equivalent role in the workplace, according to figures from The Fawcett Society.
Let’s not get confused here. This is not about women working part-time when men are working full time. This is the average gap for men and women working full time.
If you want to talk part-time, no problem – the figures actually get worse. The average woman is being paid 36 per cent less – more than a third – than a man doing the equivalent part-time role. When you get into London, this rises to 45 per cent – almost half, according to The Fawcett Society.
So what is going on here? A number of things really. Experts estimate that 40 per cent of the pay gap is down to old-fashioned discrimination on the part of employers. Add to that the reality that women are still, in many cases, primarily responsible for the role of caring for the family, and it makes it hard to do the extra hours that some men can take for granted.
I’m sure plenty of people will disagree with what I am saying, many will agree – but let’s get one thing clear. This pay gap is still here because of two things: the government is not enforcing pay equality at present, even though we have had 40 years – and governments of a variety of hues – who could easily have sorted it out.
Politicians need to get a grip on what matters
-Alison Steed is editor and co-founder of the personal finance website for women MyMoneyDiva.com. The opinions expressed are her own.-
The battle lines are already being drawn in this election year. Although none of us knows for sure when the election will be, there are signs that “May” is going to be a significant month.
Winning the hearts and minds of the nation is key winning an election, and as it stands, there is plenty of work to be done there for all parts of the community. A televised debate for the first time in the UK will change the way the election is fought, although it seems slightly pathetic that our politicians want the debates “themed” so they can swot up on the answers beforehand.
No doubt we will hear the same platitudes trotted out about the need to return to “family values” and that “educashun” is paramount, that “schoolsanhospitals” need more cash than they are already getting. With the country’s national debt rising by around 4,835 pounds a second cuts are needed, and are being talked about, but are unlikely to win votes.
Families have been a focus of the incumbent government to try and win the hearts and minds of the nation throughout its 12-year tenure. Yet as with so many things in politics, what is said to be a stated aim is so often contradicted by the action that succeeds it.
Tax credits are a prime example. With a system so complicated that the only person I know who understands it properly is an accountant who decided to learn Mandarin “for fun”, is it any wonder that so many problems have occurred?
Constant overpayments, the pressure of families to repay tax credits that have been wrongly calculated – and yes, they are supposed to work out for themselves how much they are due – not to mention the fact that what is due is worked out on the basis of earnings a year behind the current year, because of the way the system is set up.
The problem can be solved by slashing expenditure on healthcare. Healthcare is a false religion. If life expectancy goes up say two years in the next twenty, but everything else stays the same, the country won’t feel any better about itself than it does now.
MEN have lost battle for Jobs as women get them sigh by being allowed to tender cheaper IT IS JUST NOT FAIR