The study found that in the 20 years following the arrival of their first child, the average woman had worked four years less then men and spent nine years less working for 20 hours a week or more.
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The Chartered Management Institute and XpertHR report claims that across the United Kingdom male managers are 40 per cent more likely than female managers to be promoted into higher roles.
The pay gap between men and women steadily widens for years after babies are born, according to the Institute of Fiscal studies.
A new report out Tuesday illustrates just how tough a battle that will be. That compares with a gap of 23 per cent in 2003 and 28 per cent in 1993.
But at the same time, its research reveals there has been little improvement for graduates and women with A-levels. For women with middle and high levels of education, the gap is essentially unchanged from two decades ago.
For directors and CEOs, men earn an average basic salary of £131,673, which is £16,513 more than women at the same level.
Britain’s specialists’ union Prospect, responded to the IFS’s report by saying that unequal pay and issues around returning to work after maternity leave were significant barriers for working women, and that ignoring this talent impacts negatively on the economy. After giving birth, their chances of getting promotions and pay rises are drastically cut, as typically they tend to work fewer hours than colleagues who are not parents. “We want to see more jobs in the United Kingdom advertised flexibly.jobs being flexible by default”. “We are wasting women’s skills and experience because of the way we choose to structure our labour market”, she said.
But it’s more complicated than this – women are preferring to do part-time work in part because of rising childcare costs.
Also, the report found that the wage gap is smaller when comparing young women – before they become mothers – and their male counterparts. “I expect a government led by a female prime minister to stamp out such wage discrimination”.
The findings suggest the United Kingdom still has work to do, even after free childcare was boosted and shared parental leave introduced.
“Understanding that lack of progression is going to be crucial to making progress in reducing the gender wage gap”.
Hugh Aitken, CBI Scotland director, explained that the gender pay gap was complex and “caused by a wide range of factors”.
The average salary for a male manager is £38,817, which is £8,964 more than that of the average female manager.
The IFS concludes that the reason women earn less than men as they get older is because the child care responsibilities overwhelmingly fall to women who have to leave their jobs to look after the kids.
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Men’s pay further outstrips that of women’s because of a “bonus gap”. “Promoting men ahead of women is keeping us all back”, she said. “Diversity delivers better financial results, better culture and better decision making”, she said. “We need to see a step change in government policy and employer attitudes if we are to fix this problem”. In the past year, 43% of men received an annual bonus, compared with 36% of women. While women comprise 73 per cent of the workforce in entry and junior level roles, female representation drops to 42 per cent at the level of senior management.
