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Gender pay gap rises

The full impact of the pandemic on the gender pay gap not seen yet

The average hourly median gender pay gap (GPG) in the UK in 2020-21 has increased compared to the previous year, but the full impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is yet to be seen, according to an analysis carried out by Pinsent Masons.

The analysis shows that the average hourly median GPG, for the companies which have reported their data on the government portal so far, is 16.4% for 2020/21, up from 15.8% in 2019-20 and 15.2% in 2017-18.

However, only a quarter of the UK companies normally eligible to report their gender pay gap data did so in time for the April deadline this year, raising concerns that a continued hiatus on enforcement is delaying progress in closing the pay gap.

The low number of companies to have reported in 2019-20 and in 2020-21 to date demonstrates that many businesses exercised their option not to report their GPG information for 2019-20, and that the majority of companies have chosen to take advantage of the six month “stay” on enforcement action for the 2020-21 reporting period. 

A decision by the UK government to suspend the gender pay gap reporting requirement entirely in 2020 – and to delay this year’s deadline to October – had been intended to ease the pressure on companies battling the Covid-19 crisis. “But it has sent a worrying message to women, who have been dis-proportionately affected by the economic fallout from the pandemic,” Pinsent Masons notes.

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Gender pay gap rises most in the infrastructure sector

According to the analysis, the infrastructure sector reported the highest median hourly pay gap of 25.7% of the seven sectors analysed for 2020-21, which include manufacturing, technology, media and telecoms (TMT), universities, financial services and energy. 

Overall, the proportion of women holding positions in the top quartile of employees has very slightly increased from 39.18% in 2017, to 39.76% in 2020. “This shows that whilst affirmative action taken by companies towards reducing gender imbalance in the workforce has had some impact, there is still more to be done to level the playing field,” Pinsent Masons says.

Read Also:  A battle to close the gender pay gap

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