Gender inequality in the workplace has long been an issue and with the upcoming deadline for companies to produce pay gap reports (only 2 weeks away!), the next two weeks will be filled with stories of big companies who are falling behind.
Gender pay gap
Just this week we’ve seen Sky report on a gender pay gap of 11.5% and bonus gap of a massive 40% and it will be interesting to find out how this compares to data from smaller companies across the UK. According to the BBC, the CBI says that smaller firms may need more support to pull the data together. They report that at the moment pay gap data is not being published as more than 6,000 companies are yet to do so.
From figures that have been published so far, on average males are being paid more than females in over 3 in 4 companies – and aviation and finance companies are the worst offenders.
Unequal opportunities
A recent study by Freedom Finance asked females whether they though millennial women had more opportunities in the workplace in comparison to previous generations. Less than half of young Brits feel female employees are better off than those 50 years before them, Highlighting the challenges still being faced.
It’s not just young Brits who feel this way either, even baby boomers tend to agree, only 46% of this older age group would say the young British women have more workplace opportunities than they did.
Across the country
Speaking with workers all over the country, the new report suggests employees in the South East and East Midlands feel women have much better opportunities than those before them, with 51% of those from the region feeling the positive changes.
Findings from the North East would suggest the biggest lack of confidence when it comes to opportunities for females within the workplace as less than 1 in 3 believe they are better off than their grandparents.
Regions from best to worst based on where employees feel women have more opportunities in the workplace than those before them:
Region % feel there are more opportunities
- South East 53%
- East Midlands 51%
- East Anglia 49%
- Northern Ireland 48%
- London 45%
- Scotland 41%
- West Midlands 40%
- North West 40%
- South West 39%
- Yorkshire and the Humber 37%
- Wales 36%
- North East 31%
If you are interested in diversity and inclusion or finding out more about transforming your company culture to be more diverse and inclusive you may be interested in our Diversity and Inclusion Conference 2018 held in London on the 19th April. Click here for more details.
Rebecca joined the HRreview editorial team in January 2016. After graduating from the University of Sheffield Hallam in 2013 with a BA in English Literature, Rebecca has spent five years working in print and online journalism in Manchester and London. In the past she has been part of the editorial teams at Sleeper and Dezeen and has founded her own arts collective.
