North East mams face worst of gender pay gap
The 'pay penalty' that comes with having children could go on for decades more, according to a North East Union.
It's as research out today shows the gender pay gap has halved for women in their 20s to just 5% - but the progress will be undone in later life.
A study by the Resolution Foundation found that young women starting in the world of work will still earn “significantly” less than their male counterparts over their careers.
The difference in pay for men and women has been closing, partly as more women work in high-paying industries and jobs, said the think-tank.
But an enduring “pay penalty” remains when women have children, with the gender pay gap continuing to rise rapidly for women in their 30s and 40s, said the report.
Just last year the Institute for Fiscal Studies revealed once women started a family, gap widened consistently year by year so that by the time their first child had reached the age of 12, their hourly pay was 33% down on men.
Beth Farhat, Regional Secretary for the Northern TUC based in Newcastle, said:
“It isn’t surprising and it is hugely worrying, women suffer a huge pay penalty over the course of their careers, which often does peak when they’re in their 50s. With current rates of progress, I think it could be decades before women achieve pay parity with men.
“Women earn less than men at every single stage of their careers, much more needs to be done to help mums get back into decent well paid job after they’ve had their children but also to encourage dads to take on their share of care and responsibilities also and many dads want to do that.”
Senior policy analyst Laura Gardiner said:
“Young women today face relatively little disadvantage in terms of their pay packets compared to what their parents' and grandparents' generation faced.
“But while many millennial women haven't experienced much of a pay gap yet, most probably will once they reach their 30s, when they start having children. What's more this pay penalty is big and long-lasting, and remains for younger generations despite the progress in early careers.
“As people continue to live and work for longer, it's important that businesses, policy makers and civic society continue to focus on closing the gender pay gap at all ages, and for every generation.”