Scottish gender pay gap is widening
Harriet Harman condemns figures
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THE Westminster equality minister, Harriet Harman, last night attacked Scots for allowing the gender pay gap to widen at a time when it has narrowed elsewhere in the UK.
Ms Harman, the deputy Labour leader, said the gap had widened north of the border by 0.4% to 18%.
It is at or near its worst in Aberdeen, where the gap is 24.6%, though her department’s figures do not indicate whether it has improved or worsened in the Granite City.
Across the UK as a whole the gap is half a percent less over the year at 22%, but the improvement has been concentrated in the public sector. In the private sector it widened by 0.7%.
She said her equality bill would help women make even further progress by shining a spotlight on gender pay discrimination workplace by workplace, so problems can be identified and action taken because employers will no longer be able to rely on keeping their pay structure secret.
Aberdeen’s figures have been blamed on higher pay in male-dominated North Sea related industries.
Other research yesterday suggested men had lost out because more have been made redundant during the recession.
