The research, which surveyed 1,000 UK workers on their attitudes towards the gender pay gap in Britain, found that despite there being concerns around stopping pay inequality, over two thirds of workers do believe that their employer can effectively measure any gaps in their organisation. When asked what else could be done to prevent any further disconnect, employees cited the following:
Set salaries for each industry/role – 46 per cent
More support for working mums and dads – 29 per cent
More confidence amongst women to ask for more money – 12.5 per cent
Ending the stigma around women going on maternity leave – 12.5 per cent
Lee Biggins, founder and managing director of CV-Library , comments: “The gender pay gap has been a topic of discussion for many years now, but it’s concerning that it’s come to a point where female workers now see no way out. While there’s been some development to better support working parents, such as the introduction of shared parental leave, organisations must work hard to facilitate their employees and create an honest and open culture where women feel comfortable taking a stance against inequality.”
The study comes just one month before the changes in legislation around gender pay reporting are set to come in place. When asked about their attitudes towards these new rules, 76.2 per cent of workers said that they would be happy for their company to publish their salary. In addition, 47.5 per cent said that their reason behind this is that it would be fair for everyone, with this figure rising to 53.9 per cent amongst men.
However, of the 23.8 per cent who said that they wouldn’t be happy for their salary to be revealed, 66.7 per cent said that it’s because it is private information, rising to 70.8 per cent amongst women. Furthermore, 33.3 per cent of women believe that the gender pay gap has been going on for far too long and it will therefore be difficult to eliminate entirely.
Biggins continues: “The new legislation coming into play in April should go some way to highlighting gaps in UK organisations, but it’s clear that the issue won’t end here. Our survey found that over half of workers think that there’s more that could be done to stop the gender pay gap and the Government needs to listen. Without effectively tackling the issues around flexible working, caring responsibilities, helping women aged over 40 back into the workforce, and general workplace discrimination, the UK can’t expect to see the gender pay gap to truly close for some time. We hope that our research is another wake-up call for the nation when it comes to tackling unequal pay.”
