Gender pay gap progress 'dismally slow' says charity

Progress on closing the gender pay gap is “dismally slow”, according to the Fawcett Society.

At the current rate of decline, it will take 60 years to eradicate, the equality charity said.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Tuesday said that in the year to April 2019, the pay gap for full time workers rose to 8.9% – up from from 8.6% in the previous year,

But for people under 40, the gap for full-time employees was close to zero.

For all full-time workers, there has been a decline of only 0.6 percentage points since 2012 in the gap between what the average full-time female employee earns compared with the average man.

The pay gap for all workers fell from 17.8% in 2018 to 17.3% in 2019, and continues to decline, the ONS said.

The extent of the pay gap varies by age, with older female workers more likely to earn less in comparison.

Women over 40 are more likely to work in lower-paid occupations and, compared with younger women, are less likely to work as managers, directors or senior officials, the ONS said.