There is an opposition day debate on pay equality on 1st July 2015. Differences between earnings for men and women are often referred to as the gender pay gap.
There is a long history of legislation which deals with discrimination and which outlaws differential rates of pay, or other benefits, according to the gender of the employee. The principal legislation is currently the Equality Act 2010. Provisions also exist which will require employers to publish information relating to the pay of employees which would show whether there are unjustified differences in the pay between male and female employees.
The legislation also provides a general duty on public authorities to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination and promote equality of opportunity which naturally applies to gender differences. For more information see the Library’s standard note on the subject.
There have been several changes in the way the ‘gap’ has been measured, however, the all employees, full-time pay gap has clearly narrowed since 1997 to less than 10% in April 2014. Between 2011 and 2014, this gap continued to narrow, albeit slightly. The trend for part time has been the other way with the ‘gap’ widening since 2002 but in favour of female employees.
Note: Lines represent discontinuities in estimates between years
The latest figures from April 2014 as measured in the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings show that across all employees, males earn not quite a fifth more. Only when only part time employees are measured do females earn more on average.
For more information see the Library briefing on the gender pay gap.