NEWS IN BRIEF

Mind the Gap

The gender pay gap more than trebles when women reach their 30s, according to a new TUC report

“Closing the Gender Pay Gap” found that adult women in all age groups earn less than men of the same age, but the sharpest increase happens to women in their 30s. The difference between men's and women's full-time earnings rises from 3.3 per cent for women aged 22-29 to 11.2 per cent for women aged 30-39.

There are a number of reasons for the pay gap. It partly arises because so many women work in low-paid jobs such as childcare and cleaning; partly because women's skills are generally undervalued; and partly because of an “employment penalty” for mothers which goes some way to explain why the pay gap hits women in their 30s the hardest.

The report also says that women are twice as likely to be poor as men. Over one in four women (27 per cent) are classified as poor, by being in the lowest earning bracket, compared to just 13 per cent of men. The average weekly disposable income for women is £127, £85 less than men.

A lack of quality, well-paid work is cited as one of the main causes of women's poverty, as nearly half of all part-time jobs are low paid. Women working part time earn nearly 40 per cent less per hour than men working full time. With 7.5 million part-time workers, Britain has one of the highest proportions of part timers in Europe, and more than three quarters of them are female.

For a copy of the full report, go to: www.tuc.org.uk/extras/genderpayreport08.pdf