The first gender pay gap report was published in a blaze of publicity. This was progress, the headlines shouted. This was the way we would reset the pay scales and achieve better balance, we were told.
A year later the second round of results has just been published. There’s been a significant change in the level of attention. It’s quieter this time around. And sadly, the change we really need to see, in the numbers, has proven hard to come by.
The gender pay gap 2019
Analysts working for the World Economic Forum says it’ll take us 202 years to close the gap at the current rate.
How to close the gender pay gap
Analysts point out that real structural change isn’t about quick fixes. It will take time to move the goal posts. Offering high starting salaries to attract more female applicants may work in the short-term but this needs to feed through to promotion and fair pay throughout a woman’s, or anyone’s, career.
And as always, we need to reinforce that making the situation fairer and balanced needs to offer something for men as well as women. We need to offer more generous leave for fathers that they can afford to take, remove the stigma in taking that leave, and make every job flexible by default.
Actions to tackle the gender pay gap
The Government offers a range of concrete recommendations to push the agenda forward. Simple, clear actions that employers can use to level their pay structures.
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