Union exposes civil service pay gap

A pay gap which sees women civil servants earning 27% less than their male colleagues means the government is setting a "shocking" example as an employer, says public and commercial services union PCS.

The union points out that the gap is even wider than the national average which shows full-time women workers putting up with 18.8% less pay than the average full-time male wage.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: "It is shocking that the government should be setting such a bad example as an employer." The research, based on figures taken from official 2001 civil service statistics, also reveal that 91% of the quarter of a million women working in the civil service earn less than the national average wage. This compares with 72% of their male counterparts.

The union adds that female civil servants "are twice as likely as their male colleagues to be low earners with around half earning less than £15,000."

PCS berates the government for making "only a very modest improvement to pay equality across the civil service," despite the introduction of equal pay audits in government departments and agencies.

Although the gap between men and women in the civil service has actually narrowed from 28% to 27%, the national average has increased slightly from 18.5% to 18.8% according to The 2002 New Earnings Survey.