Female pay 'unequal' to male colleagues for 57 years

The gap between male and female salaries is set to continue, the CMI says

Women managers in the UK face a wait of 57 years for their salaries to equal their male colleagues, a study says.

Female managers' pay rose by 2.8% in the last 12 months, but on average they earned £10,000 less than male managers.

The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) said that at the current rate, women managers will not be paid the same as men for 57 years.

The survey of more than 43,000 managers in 200 organisations found the worst pay difference was in the Midlands.

In that region, the average pay gap stands at £10,434.

The smallest gap in pay between genders - £8,955 - was found in the north-east of England.

And the pay gap even existed at junior management level, with men being paid at least £1,000 more than women executives, the survey said.

CMI head of policy Petra Wilton said: "Girls born this year will face the probability of working for around 40 years in the shadow of unequal pay.

"We want to see government take greater steps to enforce pay equality by monitoring organisations more closely and naming and shaming those who fail to pay male and female staff fairly.

"It's not just government that needs to act. Competitive businesses need to attract diverse workforces and appeal to the most talented employees.

"To do this, managers and employers need to recruit from a wide talent pool but they cannot expect to attract the UK's best female talent if they continue to undervalue it."

Caring responsibilities

Sandra Pollock, of the CMI's Women in Management network, said: "Four decades have passed since the Equal Pay Act became law, when the pay gap stood at 34% across the board.

"In many ways, things have progressed, but the fact that such a significant gap still exists means the UK still has some way to go.

"We want to inspire young women to reach the top but how can we possibly expect them to want the top jobs if, despite doing the same role as male colleagues, they will be paid less?"

A spokesman for the Equality and Human Rights Commission said: "Forty years after the Equal Pay Act, women can still expect to earn less than 85p for every pound their male colleagues earn. In some sectors the pay gap is far worse.

"Our research shows the causes for this persistent gap remain stereotyping women's capabilities and skills, women bearing the brunt of caring responsibilities, and discrimination in pay systems.

"The commission has been working with the business sector, trades unions and others to develop a consistent and transparent way to measure the gender pay difference in organisations which we believe will provide a significant impetus to addressing the gender pay gap."