Gender Pay Gap

30 Oct 2007

MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington Diane Abbott today joined in the campaign against the continuing pay gap between men and women launched by the Fawcett Women’s Society.

The Fawcett Society have found that women working full-time are on average paid £17% less than men, and women working part-time 36% less. With the current rate of change, it would take at least 80 years for the pay gap to close. This sum is the equivalent of men getting paid all year and women working for free from October 30th and makes the UK the worst country in the EU for the gender pay gap.  Diane is going to table an Early Day Motion calling on the government to introduce more effective legislation against the pay gap.

Speaking on the Fawcett Society’s “Women’s No Pay Day”, Diane said:

“The gender pay gap is an absurd reality of working life in Britain that is rarely questioned. When you think about the bare facts it becomes clear that it is completely illogical and unjust that in the 21st Century women are still kept behind in wages. It is high time the government faced up to the fact that equality legislation to date is not working well enough or quick enough to make the changes that would push for real gender equality.”

Ends

Editor’s notes:

 

1.      The text of Diane Abbott’s EDM is as follows:

“That this House is concerned about the ongoing pay gap between men and women, which is currently estimated at an average of 17% for full-time workers and 36% for part-time workers; recognises that this is the equivalent of men being paid for the entire year and women working for free from the 30th October; notes that the pay gap undervalues women’s work, puts pressure on male partners to work longer hours, and can lead to children living in poverty; is further concerned that at the current rate of change it will be 140 years before equality of pay is reached; and calls on the government to seriously consider amending equal pay legislation and removing barriers to legal action against unfair pay.”



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