It added that 12 years after giving birth to their first child, women are likely to receive 33% less pay than men. Male employment rates were barely affected by child birth, according to the study.
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In fact, the only pay gap that has closed over the last 20 years is for women that didn’t pursue higher education (A-Levels or higher).
The study also found that the gender pay gap widens significantly from the late 20s and early 30s when men’s wages tend to continue growing rapidly while women’s wages plateau.
The research states: “There is, on average, a gap of over ten per cent even before the arrival of the first child”. In six states, the pay gap is so large that it will cost black women over $1 million.
Today’s IFS report found that when comparing women who had the same hourly wage before leaving, their pay was on average two per cent lower for each year spent out of paid work in the interim.
“Rather, women who work half-time lose out on subsequent wage progression, meaning that the hourly wages of men (and of women in full-time work) pull further and further ahead”, he said. “There is little incentive for those young women who have just qualified with their “A” levels and are considering university, to see that in the future they will still be paid less than the men they study alongside”.
This forms part of the debate on the role of women in the workplace, along with other recently highlighted issues such as the number of women in senior roles, the requirement for women to wear high heels to some workplaces, and sexual harassment in the workplace.
Possible explanations include mothers missing out on promotions or accumulating less labor market experience, the authors said. However, despite women now being more highly educated than men for the first time in history, the gap has pretty much stayed the same for those women that attained A-Levels or higher. The figure stood at 28 per cent in 1993 and 23 per cent in 2003.
The hourly wages of female workers are now 18% less than men’s, on average, compared to 2003 when they were 23% lower.
“The gender pay gap is the lowest on record but we know we need to make more progress and faster”.
“Even before the new regulations kick in, employers need to get on board with reporting on their recruitment and promotion policies and how much they pay their men and women”.
Our women members have told us that the lack of good opportunities in part-time or flexible working roles is a significant barrier to their career development, so we’re encouraging employers to think again about how job roles are defined.
After more than four decades since the Equal Pay Act, the government, in an effort to close the pay gap, will require all companies with 250 or more employees to publish details of male and female pay from April 2017. For the 63% of women of color who work above the minimum wage but are likely paid less than their White coworkers, pay transparency is crucial to identifying and fighting the internal disparities on the job.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) prefers to use hourly earnings excluding overtime to measure the gap.
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Sam Smethers, chief executive at the Fawcett campaign group, said the findings underlined the urgent need for more quality part-time jobs.
