In deeply depressing news, the gender pay gap has widened for the first time since 2013. Last year saw Equal Pay Day, the day that British women effectively stop being paid for the remainder of the year as a result of the gender pay gap, fall on the 22 November – but this year it's been brought forward by two days to reflect the bleak new stats, say the Fawcett Society.
The date is calculated based on the difference between the average hourly pay of women and men working full-time, according to data the current gap sits at 11.3% (whereas previously it was 10.4%). Ouch.
Speaking about the new figures, Jemima Olchawski, Chief Executive of the Fawcett Society, said, "It's incredibly alarming to see the mean gender pay gap widen in 2024 and shows that without concerted effort most women won’t see equal pay in our working lifetime. Today's data confirms that the Gender Pay Gap increases with age as women take on more and more unpaid care work for children and older people."
She added that the recent draft Employment Rights Bill is an important step towards positive and much-needed change, but it's clearly not enough. "Our government must commit to a cross-government strategy to shrink the gender pay gap by 2030 – women cannot wait any longer."
Along with the serious, long-lasting financial consequences, women are often left working jobs they're overqualified for due to the factors that contribute to the gender pay gap. What's more, while it is difficult to investigate how much the gender pay gap intersects with the ethnicity pay gap (ethnicity pay gap reporting is not mandatory), we do know race comes into play, with one analysis of ONS data from 2020 showing Black African, Bangladeshi women, and Pakistani women earn 26%, 28% and 31% less, respectively, than the average male worker.
But the thing is, the gender pay gap isn't an inevitability – there are real, tangible ways to close it. Policy interventions and practical solutions (like equal parental leave and flexible working) could all go a significant way, if implemented. And yet, they aren't. So, where do we go from here?
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What is the gender pay gap vs equal pay?
First things first, it's important to understand what we mean by 'equal pay' and the 'gender pay gap'. Under the Equality Act 2010, equal pay between men and women is a legal requirement (and it has been for decades). Put simply, this means that "men and women performing equal work, or work of equal value, must receive equal pay" (as per the Government's definition).
"Unfortunately, even though [pay discrimination] is illegal, we know it happens," explains Jemima Olchawski, Chief Executive of The Fawcett Society (a membership charity campaigning for gender equality and women's rights), who notes whilst pay discrimination does contribute to the gender pay gap "most of the drivers of the gender pay gap are not about behaviour that is illegal."
Rather, she tells Cosmopolitan UK, "the gender pay gap is an indicator of a whole series of ways that women are disadvantaged and excluded from our economy."
Olchawski explains that the gender pay gap comes about due to deeply entrenched societal inequalities that lead women to work in lower paid jobs or seek part-time work over a full-time position, which itself can be lower paid and may lead to a long-term scarring effect. "Even once you move back into full-time work, women's wages don't catch up with that of their peers," she says.
What else are women to do, though, when the burden of care repeatedly falls on them? "Because of caring responsibilities, women still do the majority of unpaid care, that means they are much more likely to need to access part-time work," Olchawski comments.
The system is stacked against women, and it will continue to be while we deal with unequal parental leave and astronomical childcare costs (the UK is one of the most expensive countries in the world for childcare).
It's a multifaceted issue, one that has major consequences for women, who not only earn less throughout their working lives but retire on lower pensions as a result, and one that impacts the economy, says Olchawski.
How can flexible working help close the gender pay gap?
When flexible working is not offered, women may find themselves "having to do work that doesn't quite meet their skills level or their earning potential because they need flexibility to be close to home, in order to meet their caring responsibilities."
"We have a system that excludes them, that prevents us from really benefiting from all that investment we've made in their education, because we still have working practices, a lack of childcare, and gendered approaches to care that mean women don't fully get to participate," Olchawski explains.
It's a message echoed by Joeli Brearley, founder and CEO of Pregnant Then Screwed, a charity dedicated to ending the 'motherhood penalty' (in 2016, a government-commissioned survey found 54,000 women lose their jobs every year after becoming a mother).
"There are currently 1.7 million women who would like to work more hours but can't due to the cost and availability of childcare, and 800,000 women who can't afford to work at all," Brearley told Cosmopolitan UK.
"If we want to close the gender pay gap, we need investment from the Government to create an affordable, accessible, high quality childcare system. We also need to invest in a better parental leave system that enables dads to share the joy, and sometimes the burden, of care in those early days."
Brearley references the Flexible Working Bill currently making its way through Parliament. When the Bill receives royal assent, the hope is that workers will finally have the right to request flexible working from day one of a new job, and employers will be required to consider requests and provide a reason before rejection.
Yet, whilst this news is welcome, the Bill does not go far enough according to Brearley. "It lacks teeth," she claimed. "What we really need to see is all jobs being advertised as flexible, unless there is a good reason not to do so. This would start to change the culture, so that flexible working is not seen as a nice to have, but is a standard way of working."
What else can help end the gender pay gap?
Addressing what else has been done to close the gap, Olchawski added that the introduction of gender pay gap reporting was "a really important step forward" [speaking of 2017, when regulations were introduced requiring voluntary, private, and public sector employers with 250 or more employees to publish their gender pay gap figures] but warned: "Knowing about the gap isn't enough, we need action to address it."
The Fawcett Society is also calling for pay gap reporting to include ethnicity pay gap reporting, something Labour has pledged to introduce for large companies should the party be elected following our next general election. "Like so many other systemic unfairnesses, we know that the gender pay gap hits Black and minoritised women hardest. We need to make ethnicity pay gap reporting mandatory to improve the quality of the data on this issue. How can this government and employers tackle an issue they don't fully understand?" questioned Olchawski.
Speaking to Cosmopolitan UK, Anneliese Dodds, Shadow Women and Equalities Secretary, says: "The Conservatives are failing working women. We've seen thirteen years of low growth, stagnant wages and no movement on flexible working. More flexibility means more women in work. That's good for women, good for business and good for our economy."
Speaking on behalf of the Government, an Equality Hub spokesperson told Cosmopolitan UK: "The gender pay gap has been trending downwards since 1997, and the Government continues to take significant action to ensure women can reach their full potential at work.
"We are starting a childcare revolution with an increase to 30 hours free childcare from 9 months to school age, £100m in capital funding to help nurseries expand, and £289m for the wraparound care across the country. Millions of employees are now able to request flexible working from day one, and our STEM returners programme is getting carers back into the workplace."
We must also be aware that the fight for equal pay is happening both at home in the UK and around the world. Chief of the Economic Empowerment section at UN Women, Dr. Jemimah Njuki comments, "While bold moves have been made in recent years, it will still take more than 250 years until women and men receive equal pay [globally]. We know that women across the world on average earn 20% less than men, and the gap is wider for racial minorities.
"There are several practical and innovative solutions that governments, private sectors, trade unions and other social actors can take, including pay transparency, equal pay certification programmes, legal measures for minimum wage, and flexible working arrangements."
"But most importantly, we must put a stop to the discrimination women face in the workplace and the undervaluing of the work that women do, and adopt the principle of 'equal pay for work of equal value'," concludes Dr Njuki.
Together, we can all play our part in ending pay discrimination and inequality – but it can't just be women putting in the work.
Amber O’Connor is Cosmopolitan UK’s former junior features writer, who covers everything from breaking news, women’s safety and real life features to fitness, travel, and cultural trends. She works on first-person features, reports, and long reads, plus the hottest stories of the day (if you want to know about the latest wellness craze or TikTok trends, she’s your girl). Amber has previously worked as a reporter and a lifestyle writer, with her work appearing in numerous publications, including The Mirror, Red Magazine, Evening Standard, Indy100, and Yahoo News. When she’s not working her way through her TBR list, Amber loves dancing, running, and going on adventures with her dog.
