Gender pay gap ‘won’t close for 48 years’
The Equality Trust has released an analysis of FTSE 100 companies that shows their “depressingly slow” progress on pay equality, and that, at the current rate of progress, they won’t have closed the gender pay gap for another 48 years.
Introducing the charity’s new report, Closing the gender pay gap: a review of the FTSE 100’s progress, Jo Wittams, its co-executive director, commented that “After five years of light touch regulation, the UK’s top companies are still falling short of achieving gender equality when it comes to pay.
“Tackling the gender pay gap is a key mechanism for reducing economic inequality, which is a critical issue. However, the evidence exists to show that achieving gender pay equality is possible. We call upon the FTSE 100 to show bold leadership in this area, and for the government to strengthen the regulations to make the UK a world leader when it comes to closing the gender pay gap.”
Jemima Olchawski, chief executive of the Fawcett Society gender equality charity, added: “The spiralling cost of living crisis, on the back of Covid, means we are at a critical juncture that demands government action. Over 50 years have passed since the Equal Pay Act, yet the gap persists. We need urgent structural change to end it now and make workplaces work for women.”