The announcement last week that the gender pay gap had widened in 2008 brought the usual screams of indignation and demands that the government do something. The HR press was a little more temperate, though not exclusively so. The ONS announcement, of course, gives a much more considered interpretation. I have written before (The gender pay gap) about the need to break the gap down into its constituent causes if any useful progress is to be made so I will just highlight a few interesting aspects.
Not every report mentioned that the gap has widened by only 0.3% or that the previous year’s figure was the smallest gap since records began. The ONS attributes the cause of the widening gap to an increase in the number of women moving into full-time, lower-paid jobs (the gap is measured on full-time earnings excluding overtime). These are presumably women moving into work from not working and/or moving from part- to full-time. It probably reflects an increased need for additional income rather than any actual changes in relative pay rates. Over the coming months there will be a great many changes (mostly involuntary) in the composition of the workforce so next year’s figure could show an even bigger change. If the balance of redundancies over the coming months falls on higher paid men the gap will close. Will that be progress?
The susceptibility of the headline figure, to the industry and job patterns is illustrated dramatically by the regional statistics. The median gap in the South East was 16.7% but in Northern Ireland just 2.6%.
Also interesting is the difference between the median and the mean values. The gap using the median value (the half-way figure) is 12.8%. Using the mean (average), the gap is 17.1%. This will reflect the fact that the figures cover all full-time employees; including City fat cats and premiership footballers. In calculating the mean higher earners, who are mostly men, have a disproportionate effect for their number whereas in calculating the median value every job counts equally.
