Research shows older women main pay gap victims

Research has shown that the primary victims of the gender pay gap are older women, at a time when the gap as a whole is closing.

This finding comes from data that was published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). What the data shows is that the last 12 months have seen the gender pay gap in the UK narrow, with the exception of one group. For female workers who are aged 40 or over, the gap has actually widened during that period. It increased from 8.9% to 9.1 %, whereas on the whole it fell from 7.1% to 6.9%.

The main reason that has been cited for this disparity is the ongoing effect of motherhood on the earnings of female workers. Ken Mulkearn, who works for Incomes Data Research, said that this offered the likeliest explanation.

He was supported in that assertion by Melissa Blissett. She is employed to study pay gap analytics by Barnett Waddingham and she spoke to HR Magazine about possible solutions:

“It’s also important to focus on equalising policies with male colleagues – such as enhanced paid paternity leave – which has the impact of reducing the gender gap between workplace contribution and experience.”

Coming up with new policies is largely the responsibility of HR. This can be in-house or outsourced HR services in Northampton and other places.

Some of the ideas that are being proposed to address the problem are part of the Employment Rights Bill. This forthcoming piece of legislation includes more rights for new fathers to claim paternity leave.