Mind the gap

Annabel Denham | 8th October 2021 | Comment, Uncategorised

Rather than fixate on meaningless data, governments should explore why some women opt for less demanding roles

Debunking myths around the “gender pay gap” is challenging because the widely held assertion remains that women are being short-changed. Though there are instances of sex-based discrimination, they are rare and will often lead to the employment tribunal – as well they should given that, in Britain, unequal pay has been illegal 1970.

Why talk about the GPG now? The European Commission is planning to introduce a pay transparency mechanism not dissimilar to the GPG reporting measures introduced by the UK government in 2017. Since then, companies with more than 250 employees have been required to publish gender pay gap data every spring, though this was suspended in 2020 and delayed in 2021 due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The legislation was never needed, and ought to be chucked onto the post-Covid regulatory bonfire. It burdens businesses, stirs ill-feeling among colleagues, risks unfair castigation of those firms with large gaps, and tells us nothing meaningful about the differences in pay between the sexes.

Differences in pay result primarily from men and women doing different jobs, and the consequent gaps in average pay. There are legitimate reasons why some roles will pay more than others. They may differ in the skills required, the inherent attractiveness of the work, the degree of responsibility, hours, location. If men and women hold different roles, pay differentials …

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