Another day, another pay survey. The latest, from a salary comparison website called PayWizard, claims that almost of half of employees are not happy with what they are being paid. Dissatisfaction seems particularly high among female workers, but the survey results suggest they are much less likely than their male counterparts to request a pay rise. Among those who have no union to negotiate pay rates, only a third said they had been able to ask their boss for more cash, compared with around 40% of men.
Alastair Hatchett of IDS, one of the organisations behind PayWizard, suggests part of the problem may be a lack of self-confidence among working women.
"In many workplaces, women tend to be in low-paid part-time positions, and the men tend to be the ones earning the biggest salaries. In this kind of environment a low-paid woman is less likely to ask her boss for a raise."
Even when a male colleague is being paid more to do the same job, Hatchett suggests women feel uncomfortable confronting the issue. With recent reports suggesting the gender pay gap could be anywhere between 18-27%, it seems many women around the UK must be grinning and bearing unsatisfactory pay. So why are female workers so unwilling to ask for equal pay? And if they don't speak up, will the earnings divide ever grow smaller?
