Claim
Labour will close the gender pay gap by 2030.
Background
The Labour party is pledging to get rid of the gap between the pay of male and female workers. It cites a mean gap of 13.1% between full-time employees.
The package of measures behind this includes “a real living wage” of £10 an hour, national pay scales for jobs that are predominantly done by women, and extending gender pay reporting to all companies with more than 50 workers.
Reality
Figures from the Office for National Statistics are for the median pay gap, which is not skewed as much by very high or very low earners. They show for full-time workers the gap is 8.9% and has only fallen by 0.6 percentage points since 2012. At that rate it would take more than Labour’s 11-year target-time to close.
But the proposed measures are similar to those called for by equality campaigners. The Fawcett Society wants more employers to pay the living wage and better rewards for jobs typically staffed by women.
It has also recommended reform to parental leave and mandatory equal pay audits. Labour’s plans include extending free childcare and fines for companies that fail to reach equality. However, it is not clear when either would start.
One reason women take home less than men is that they are more likely to do part-time jobs – when these roles are included the pay gap is 17.3%. Labour’s childcare pledge offers 30 hours a week, which does not cover a full-time role but would make one more financially viable.
Renée Adams, professor of finance at the Saïd Business School at Oxford University, said the target was “very ambitious – there is no way that is achievable”.
Adams said that, despite pay-gap reporting, there was still a lack of transparency, allowing people in the same jobs to be paid different salaries.
She added that a lack of clear data on why people leave jobs or fail to progress into higher paid jobs made it hard to address all of the issues.
Sam Smethers, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, said that the pay gap could only be closed by 2030 if there were moves to tackle hidden pay discrimination.
“This is why we have to change the law to give women the right to know what a male colleague earns if they suspect they are being paid unequally for doing equal work.”
Verdict
Labour’s policies will speed up the pace of change but closing the gap completely by 2030 seems unlikely without some additional measures.
