Today in the UK it's Equal Pay Day: The day when women "stop earning" for the year

[Deleted]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...-a6726226.html

Equal Pay Day: Seven reasons should still be worried about the gender pay gap

Gender inequality in employment continues - 45 years after legislation designed to ensure women's pay matched men's

The overall UK gender pay gap is 19.1 per cent, meaning a woman on average earns 80p for every £1 earned by a man - despite the Equal Pay Act coming into force in 1970.

November 6 is Equal Pay Day – essentially the day in the year that women stop earning, due to the gender pay gap; six and a half weeks before the end of the year. Below are seven reasons we should still be worried about gender inequality in UK employment.

1. Only 31 per cent of the UK’s cabinet ministers are female

There are only seven females cabinet ministers in the UK's government - while Canada’s new prime minster, Justin Trudeau, has chosen the country's first cabinet with equal numbers of men and women. When asked to explain the rationale behind his decision, Mr Trudeau simply replied: “Because it’s 2015”.

2. The average UK boss is more likely to be male

According to a survey from manufacturer, Stormline, the average UK boss is a 54-year-old white man, named Andrew. The survey looked at the country’s top 50 private companies’ bosses and found there were only six women.

3. UK’s female billionaires only make up 4 per cent

Fewer than four per cent of the UK’s millionaires are women, making it the country with the 10th lowest percentage of female billionaires. South America is the continent with the most female billionaires, with 33 per cent in Chile, while Switzerland is just behind with 29 per cent. The Approved Index of the countries with the most female billionaires is based on the Forbes’ list of billionaires.

4. Female actors are paid less in entertainment

A hack of Sony Pictures' emails revealed Jennifer Lawrence was paid seven per cent of the film American Hustle’s profits, while Bradley Cooper and Christian Bale were paid nine per cent.

Lawrence was paid less despite playing a starring role and winning an Oscar. Other female actors, including Meryl Street and Emma Thompson, have spoken about misogyny in the industry.

5. It will be another 70 years until the gender pay gap closes

Businesses must publish details of bonuses to tackle gender pay gap
Jennifer Lawrence addresses Hollywood gender pay gap
The National Living Wage won't close the gender pay gap
A UN report shows women across the world earn 77 per cent of the amount paid to men, a figure that has improved only three percentage points in 20 years. At this slow rate, the gender page gap will not be closed for another 70 years. The report is from the UN’s International Labour Organisation (ILO).

6. Women in male-dominated roles

Only six per cent of the engineering work force is female, according to stats from the Women’s engineering society.

In 2012, 79 per cent of those who took A-Level physics were male, meaning fewer women would go on to study engineering at university. Last August, women sought to raise the profile of female engineers by posting photos on social media of them holding signs saying #ILooLikeAnEngineer.

7. FTSE 100 firms appoint more women to their boards but smaller firms have way to go

Britain’s top companies have made enormous progress on gender diversity by doubling the number of female directors. Now women account for 23.5 per cent of the FTSE 100 board members, up from12.5 in 2011, according to Lord Davies, the former trade minister. This means companies are on track to meet their target of 25 per cent in 2015.

However, smaller companies still lag behind, with just 18% of women directors on the boards of FTSE 250 firms - albeit an improvement on the figure of 7.8% in 2011.

Never realised this was even a thing, I guess the idea is like "tax day" to raise awareness. Seems to be a fair few decent articles going around discussing the issue though so I guess it's worked. Fair few... let's just say misguided... articles too.

[Spectral]

So long as people continue to use the term "equal pay for equal work" when they're actually referring to different work and different quantities of it, I will believe that they're a bunch of disingenuous people. If there's any pay gap for similar work (and it's not clear that there is), it's on the order of ~5%.

edited for civility

[Mayhem]

"a woman on average earns 80p for every £1 earned by a man"... so it´s not unequal pay it´s unequal job distribution?

[Rukh]

So long as people continue to use the term "equal pay for equal work" when they're actually referring to different work and different quantities of it, I will believe that they're a bunch of disingenuous shits. If there's any pay gap for similar work (and it's not clear that there is), it's on the order of ~5%.

How to automatically invalidate your argument - call the people you disagree with "disingenuous shits"

[Spectral]

How to automatically invalidate your argument - call the people you disagree with "disingenuous shits"

I guess if someone's super into tone trolling, that would invalidate the argument. The content of my post is fine and is, in fact, hard to dispute. I guess I could call them, "disingenuous persons" if it made you feel better. The point is that people that campaign on the grounds of pay equality frequently mislead.

[Wilian]

[Rukh]

"a woman on average earns 80p for every £1 earned by a man"... so it´s not unequal pay it´s unequal job distribution?

I didn't look up the source for this info, but generally they compare the pay difference people in the same job.

People often excuse this by saying "yes well men bargain harder for higher pay" but isn't that exactly the cultural disparity we're talking about?

[Kalcheus]

I didn't look up the source for this info, but generally they compare the pay difference people in the same job.

I don't know about in the UK, but in the US they typically quote the combined job average pay, not same job average pay. There's still a gap, but you can tell what the goal of the speaker is based on whether they quote the combined or the same.

[Salech]

This is hilarious for so many reasons, there is literally no pay gap for doing the same job as that would be illegal in most countries, so yeah i guess this is just another of those "look how hard X have it even though we're making wrong assumptions that has been disproven"


Women has the same chance of getting a top job as any man has, they just CHOOSE not to, the fuck is wrong with people assuming women actually want those jobs? There is a reason some professions have a huge male, or female working force and that is because people chose to work in that field.

[Rukh]

This is hilarious for so many reasons, there is literally no pay gap for doing the same job as that would be illegal in most countries, so yeah i guess this is just another of those "look how hard X have it even though we're making wrong assumptions that has been disproven"

Its not illegal, what are you even talking about

[Deleted]

I don't know about in the UK, but in the US they typically quote the combined job average pay, not same job average pay. There's still a gap, but you can tell what the goal of the speaker is based on whether they quote the combined or the same.

This 80p on the £1 is combined average.

There is a wage gap in the UK comparing like for like too, but it's around 92p on the £1.

The only segment of society where women are paid more than men in the UK when comparing like for like work is under 27s.

- - - Updated - - -

Its not illegal, what are you even talking about

Actually in the UK it is illegal to pay more to men than women for the same work.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_Pay_Act_1970
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equality_Act_2010

[Spectral]

Its not illegal, what are you even talking about

I can't speak to British laws (or EU laws) at all, but in the United States, this sort of discrimination has been illegal for over 50 years, and the legislation making it so was reaffirmed and bolstered by the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009. Women that are legitimately being underpaid for equal work have grounds to sue for back pay and damages.

[Rukh]

This 80p on the £1 is combined average.

There is a wage gap in the UK comparing like for like too, but it's around 92p on the £1.

The only segment of society where women are paid more than men in the UK when comparing like for like work is under 27s.

- - - Updated - - -



Actually in the UK it is illegal to pay more to men than women for the same work.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_Pay_Act_1970
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equality_Act_2010

Sure, that would prohibit a company from saying "well, women employees are going to be payed 70% of what men are payed" but it doesn't prevent pay gap between sexes from happening.

[Spectral]

Sure, that would prohibit a company from saying "well, women employees are going to be payed 70% of what men are payed" but it doesn't prevent pay gap between sexes from happening.

Indeed, when men work more, perform better, or negotiate better, they're not expressly forbidden from reaping the benefits of that effort. I don't know how you want to get around that other than outright banning companies from considering performance or quantity of work.

[Deleted]

Jennifer Lawrence had less screen time and importance in the movie. So meh. And comparing that overrated actrice with Christian fucking bale. The joke.
Oh we didn't see her cry when she got a better salary than her male co leads in Hunger games, but yeah double standards are great.

The UN report is the best shitty example. Yes a woman gets paid 77cts for every dollar a man makes worldwide. But what people fail to get out of that report is that man tend to go after better paid jobs, with more responsibility than woman. So yeah that makes a worldwide gap. If you want a real report you should check the salaray difference of the two genders at the same job, in the same company. And there the difference can swerve on both sides (I make 3euros less ( a month) than my female coworker for the same job))

For centuries the model has been, woman at home with the kids, the man provide the money. Which you can still find in our days, where men tend to get a better job because "I have to tend to a woman and a family). You can't break something that has been in our culture for centuries in a few years. Yes some woman focus on carreer, but it's a minority. Yes woman are starting to change that old way of life, but things take time. And that people don't understand it. And if that stereotype is changing, another one should change. And that is that woman look down on men they outearn (yes it's another stereotype but both should be eradicated, not one)

The Trudeau example is also very bad. "Because it's 2015" actually means "Because it's 2015 , under the pressure of feminism we must have an equal gender cabinet regardless of competence and skills". Taking someone else's job because of gender/sexuality/colour/ insert w/e instead of competence and skills is a huge mistake. You will end up with not so good people working for you, and your excuse will be "Because it's 2015". Jobs should be given out by merit, not by equality.

[Ryme]

I don't know how many times this needs to be debunked before people accept it's a myth.

[Rukh]

queue the misogynists rolling up trashing on women.

[Mayhem]

I didn't look up the source for this info, but generally they compare the pay difference people in the same job.

People often excuse this by saying "yes well men bargain harder for higher pay" but isn't that exactly the cultural disparity we're talking about?

The cultural disparity is that women can´t bargain? Who keeps women from bargaining?

[Deleted]

I didn't look up the source for this info, but generally they compare the pay difference people in the same job.

People often excuse this by saying "yes well men bargain harder for higher pay" but isn't that exactly the cultural disparity we're talking about?

No those studies are all the same and do the same shit.

"The overall UK gender pay gap is 19.1 per cent, meaning a woman on average earns 80p for every £1 earned by a man"

The combine all the salaries (in a country, or worldwide) of both genders, regardless of jobs, positions etc. The results then show a difference of (in average) 30cts between genders. Those studies fail to show that the male gender tends to look for jobs with more pay, thus creating a difference. And because people don't know how to read, they automaticly think "OMG woman get paid 70cts for every $ a man makes, outrageous"

[Spectral]

queue the misogynists rolling up trashing on women.

As someone once told me, calling people misogynists is a good way to invalidate your argument... well, I guess that doesn't apply, as you don't really seem to have an argument here?

Let's discuss the word "misogynist" for a moment though. The standard dictionary definition is "a person who dislikes, despises, or is strongly prejudiced against women". As near as I can tell, this does not describe me in any way - I've generally preferred the company of women during my life, live with a woman, have lots of female friends in science, and so on.

If your standard for "misogyny" is "rejects dishonest statistics with specific arguments", the bar is so low as to be meaningless.