Both professional and working women in Scotland are being hit by a widening of the gender pay gap, new figures show.
Two reports published today reveal that women are facing a “pay crisis”.
Data from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and salary specialists XpertHR have found that female managers in Scotland are earning only three-quarters of what men in full-time comparable jobs earn.
Meanwhile, the Fawcett Society has found that almost a million more women have moved into low paid, insecure jobs since the recession.
The campaign group said that since 2008, female under-employment has nearly doubled, to 789,000, and an additional 371,000 women have moved into self-employment, which is typically very low paid.
One in eight low paid women now describe themselves as on a zero hours contract, it added.
The CMI said that the
gap between male and female managers in Scotland stands at £8,347, with the average salary recorded as £36,119 for men and £27,772 for women. Nationally female managers are earning only three-quarters (77%) of what men in full-time comparable jobs earn – a 23% gender pay gap.
Analysis of the National Management Salary Survey, which covers over 4,100 professional workers in Scotland and 68,000 across the UK, shows the gap is widest between men and women aged between 45 and 60 and stands at £16,680 per year.
The report’s authors add that the gap is two-fold. In addition to the salary gap in Scotland, there is also a persistent ‘bonus pay gap’. The average bonus for a female Function Head in Scotland stands at £8,694, while for men in the same role the average pay-out is £20,887.
The inequalities remain at senior levels – when bonus payments are added, male directors took home £156,690 compared to £141,438 for women – a difference of £15,252 on average.
Ann Francke, Chief Executive of CMI, says: “Lower levels of pay for women managers cannot be justified, yet our extensive data shows the pay gap remains a reality for too many women in Scotland. Women and men should be paid on the basis of their performance in their particular roles, but this is clearly not yet the case for far too many. We have to stamp out cultures that excuse this as the result of time out for motherhood and tackle gender bias in pay policies that put too much emphasis on time served.”
XpertHR’s head of salary surveys, Mark Crail, says: “The XpertHR data shows that women begin to fall behind at the age when they are most likely to be starting a family, and it just gets worse from then on. It appears that employers often give up on women in mid-career and are missing out on a huge pool of untapped knowledge, experience and talent.”