keeping women down

Forty years after the Equal Pay Act was passed, [a study by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI)] shows that the gender pay gap remains stubborn and that male and female managers will not be paid the same until 2067...

The group's survey shows that women's salaries increased by 2.8% over the past 12 months, compared with 2.3% for men. But with the average UK salary for a male manager currently £10,031 more than that of a female manager, women face a 57-year wait before their take-home pay is equal to that of their male colleagues, says the report, compiled with researchers XpertHR. Its findings, from more than 43,000 employees in 197 organisations, showed male pay still outstrips female pay by as much as 24% at senior level...

Despite four decades of equal pay legislation, Britain has one of the worst gender gaps in Europe. Women in the UK are paid 79% of male rates, while across the 27 countries of the European Union the figure is 82%, according to a report earlier this year from Eurobarometer.

Gender equality groups such as the Fawcett Society blame the UK's poor record on a culture of secrecy around pay. They point to examples such as Sweden, where more transparency has resulted in falling pay gaps. They want the coalition government to set a deadline for closing the gap, make laws more transparent, and force companies to audit their workforces for unfair gaps more regularly.

Equal pay for women not likely till 2067, says research

Ah - no such luck. The blessed coalition has abandoned the part of the new Equality Act which would have required businesses to do just that. The Torygraph is very pleased:

under the proposals being consulted upon, the Government has decided to abandon a former obligation that private-sector employers bidding for public-sector contracts should publish their diversity statistics. Dropping the requirement, introduced under Labour, should bring qualified relief to the business world, which has that collecting the information would be costly and bureaucractic.

Gender pay gap to be disclosed by law

Under the proposals being consulted on, the new Equality Act has effectively been emasculated. Do what you can, or what you like, and above all - what will be good for business, in order to remove discrimination. Don't worry about making any plans, just tell us what you decide, when you have decided. And if you are commissioning services from real businesses - ignore these considerations altogether.

A light touch approach to inequality. It hasn't worked anywhere else.