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| Gender pay gap final day of reporting - live | Gender pay gap final day of reporting - live |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Some questions have been asked about the quality of the data that is being gathering by the gender pay gap reporting requirement. | |
| Chris Rowley, professor at Kellogg College, Oxford, says despite its clear shortcomings, the data is useful and will improve year-on-year as more data is added. Rather than expecting the first year to achieve absolute “purity” of data, the collection is a valuable process in its own right, he argues. | |
| It will drive transparency and accountability and prompt thought, action and improvement by exposing previously hidden company pay systems. | |
| Rowley says that organisational and structural business problems are underpinned by deeper cultural issues. | |
| Even with greater emphasis given to work-family balance tension remains between offering family-friendly policies, including part-time working, as it is often penalized with stunted pay and career progression. | |
| To address this he says companies need to normalise non full-time work for all employees, not just women, change the perception of jobs traditionally being done by women as being less valued and value non-linear career paths. | |
| However Rowley is less optimistic that this can be done without legislation. | |
| Given the history of over four decades of equal pay laws, and that the earlier 2010 measure to encourage companies to voluntarily report gender pay data failed, change is unlikely to happen without rigorous, systematic and strong state intervention, statutory underpinning and effective enforcement mechanisms. | |
| Massive props to Malvern Local who are doing exactly what all local news papers should be doing. Drilling down into the data, and seeing what it means for their area and their readers. | |
| REVEALED: Gender pay gap in Worcestershire https://t.co/xaxinu6kLA | |
| As of 11.03am 9064 employers have filed their gender pay gap report. | |
| We’ve asked the government - repeatedly - how many are expected to file, and - repeatedly - they have trotted out the phrase “the deadline hasn’t passed yet”. So maybe we’ll find out at some point past tomorrow. | |
| A well-placed source has said there is around 2,000 public sector employers. The deadline for public sector employers to file the gender pay gap reports was Friday. A search under ‘public sector’ on the government portal shows that 1643 have fulfilled the requirement. | |
| Which *potentially* means we’re missing around 2000 companies, if the 9,000 private company estimate the government has used previously is accurate. | |
| The Financial Times have suggested that the number of companies covered by the legislation could, in fact, be closer to 13,500 - as employers have to report by business unit, meaning that some have reported several different numbers. | |
| As expected, there has been a big rush to file gender pay gap reports just before the deadline. More than 1,200 companies have reported in the past 24 hours. | As expected, there has been a big rush to file gender pay gap reports just before the deadline. More than 1,200 companies have reported in the past 24 hours. |
| More companies (1245) published their figures with less than 24 hours to go than did in the first 326 days of the service running. | More companies (1245) published their figures with less than 24 hours to go than did in the first 326 days of the service running. |
| gender pay gap: more companies (1245) published their figures today -- one day before the legal deadline -- than did in the first 326 days of the service running | gender pay gap: more companies (1245) published their figures today -- one day before the legal deadline -- than did in the first 326 days of the service running |
| Feminist writer Caroline Criado Perez has used Twitter to challenge critics who argue that there is no such thing as a gender pay gap. | Feminist writer Caroline Criado Perez has used Twitter to challenge critics who argue that there is no such thing as a gender pay gap. |
| People arguing that the gender pay gap doesn’t exist are talking utter shite. Thread. | People arguing that the gender pay gap doesn’t exist are talking utter shite. Thread. |
| Here’s an edited version of that thread - it’s worth reading in full. | Here’s an edited version of that thread - it’s worth reading in full. |
| To get one thing out of the way, yes it’s true that the entire pay gap cannot be explained by straight discrimination of the paying a woman less than a man for the exact same job variety. That doesn’t mean none of it can. | To get one thing out of the way, yes it’s true that the entire pay gap cannot be explained by straight discrimination of the paying a woman less than a man for the exact same job variety. That doesn’t mean none of it can. |
| For example, around the world, women consistently work for longer than men on a daily basis. We don’t realise this because we don’t see women’s work. And we don’t pay them for it. But just because we don’t pay women for their cleaning, cooking, taking care of children, of elderly parents - of husbands, who create 7 extra hours of housework for their wives every week that doesn’t mean it isn’t essential. Or that it isn’t work. | For example, around the world, women consistently work for longer than men on a daily basis. We don’t realise this because we don’t see women’s work. And we don’t pay them for it. But just because we don’t pay women for their cleaning, cooking, taking care of children, of elderly parents - of husbands, who create 7 extra hours of housework for their wives every week that doesn’t mean it isn’t essential. Or that it isn’t work. |
| So we’ve established that women work and this work is vital. It has to get done one way or another. It could be shared equally but it isn’t. Women do 75% of the world’s unpaid carework. | So we’ve established that women work and this work is vital. It has to get done one way or another. It could be shared equally but it isn’t. Women do 75% of the world’s unpaid carework. |
| And this is where governments come in. Women’s unpaid work has been estimated to amount to $10 trillion a year. That’s roughly 13% of GDP. | And this is where governments come in. Women’s unpaid work has been estimated to amount to $10 trillion a year. That’s roughly 13% of GDP. |
| [But] governments don’t systemically collect data on women’s unpaid work and they still use a form of calculating GDP that was dreamt up to support a post war economy and which excluded unpaid care because it seemed “too difficult”. | [But] governments don’t systemically collect data on women’s unpaid work and they still use a form of calculating GDP that was dreamt up to support a post war economy and which excluded unpaid care because it seemed “too difficult”. |
| The upshot of all this is that when governments make cuts they see women’s unpaid labour, as the @WomensBudgetGrp puts it, as “a costless resource to exploit” | The upshot of all this is that when governments make cuts they see women’s unpaid labour, as the @WomensBudgetGrp puts it, as “a costless resource to exploit” |
| And in the short term it is costless - for governments. Not so for women, who are forced, variously, into part time jobs and jobs below their skill level because so few senior jobs offer flexibility. | And in the short term it is costless - for governments. Not so for women, who are forced, variously, into part time jobs and jobs below their skill level because so few senior jobs offer flexibility. |
| Governments do pay in the long term though. 25% of the growth in the US economy between 1970-2009, seen as a “golden age of growth” was down to an increase in the female labour force. That’s a huge figure. | Governments do pay in the long term though. 25% of the growth in the US economy between 1970-2009, seen as a “golden age of growth” was down to an increase in the female labour force. That’s a huge figure. |
| Growth has slowed in recent years and governments are desperate to boost it. Increasing female labour force participation is an obvious way: if women were able to engage in the paid labour force at the same rate as men, global GDP would grow by an estimated $12 trillion. | Growth has slowed in recent years and governments are desperate to boost it. Increasing female labour force participation is an obvious way: if women were able to engage in the paid labour force at the same rate as men, global GDP would grow by an estimated $12 trillion. |
| A quick note on gendered job segregation. There is evidence from multiple countries and in multiple fields that wages *go down* when a profession becomes feminised and wages *go up* when men enter into it. If that isn’t a clear sign of a “real” pay gap I don’t know what is. | A quick note on gendered job segregation. There is evidence from multiple countries and in multiple fields that wages *go down* when a profession becomes feminised and wages *go up* when men enter into it. If that isn’t a clear sign of a “real” pay gap I don’t know what is. |
| One more thing. Research from the US has also shown that the hourly wage for those working 50hrs+ has risen twice as fats as those working a more typical 35-49 hrs per week. | One more thing. Research from the US has also shown that the hourly wage for those working 50hrs+ has risen twice as fats as those working a more typical 35-49 hrs per week. |
| Great for hard workers! you may think. Only...there’s all that unpaid carework to get done and men aren’t gonna do it so guess who *can’t* work insane hours? | Great for hard workers! you may think. Only...there’s all that unpaid carework to get done and men aren’t gonna do it so guess who *can’t* work insane hours? |
| Arguments that the gender pay gap data being published at the moment is irrelevant to all this are being wilfully blind, stupid, or both. Data is never a bad thing - and we have far too little of it when it comes to women. | Arguments that the gender pay gap data being published at the moment is irrelevant to all this are being wilfully blind, stupid, or both. Data is never a bad thing - and we have far too little of it when it comes to women. |
| We need to be able to quantify how much of an impact the various ways in which women are discriminated against in the workplace (both directly and through structural bias) are having - on women’s individual pockets, and the economy overall. | We need to be able to quantify how much of an impact the various ways in which women are discriminated against in the workplace (both directly and through structural bias) are having - on women’s individual pockets, and the economy overall. |
| We’ll be analysing the figures as they roll in throughout the day and revisiting some interesting companies. | We’ll be analysing the figures as they roll in throughout the day and revisiting some interesting companies. |
| There was a flurry of reports over the bank holiday weekend and as the average pay gap has increased week-on-week, it’s clear some companies have tried to bury their filings in the last minute rush. However we’ve been keeping tabs on the filings each day over a series of months and will be discussing some of the most interesting submissions as the deadline draws closer. | There was a flurry of reports over the bank holiday weekend and as the average pay gap has increased week-on-week, it’s clear some companies have tried to bury their filings in the last minute rush. However we’ve been keeping tabs on the filings each day over a series of months and will be discussing some of the most interesting submissions as the deadline draws closer. |
| All the figures are reported based on the median hourly pay gap, which is the difference between what the median male employee is paid and the median female employee is paid, expressed as a proportion of male earnings. | All the figures are reported based on the median hourly pay gap, which is the difference between what the median male employee is paid and the median female employee is paid, expressed as a proportion of male earnings. |
| While the figures are exciting, they’re also far from perfect. The numbers released under legislation don’t compare the gap based on similar roles and don’t identify which roles are part-time | While the figures are exciting, they’re also far from perfect. The numbers released under legislation don’t compare the gap based on similar roles and don’t identify which roles are part-time |
| However the numbers are the first insight into inequality in the workforce on a company-level anywhere in the world. While they don’t reveal issues of equal pay for equal work, they have ignited a debate about pay and equality in the workplace. | However the numbers are the first insight into inequality in the workforce on a company-level anywhere in the world. While they don’t reveal issues of equal pay for equal work, they have ignited a debate about pay and equality in the workplace. |
| Amber Rudd - minister for women as well as home secretary - has warned companies they have “no excuse” for filing the gender pay gap results late. | Amber Rudd - minister for women as well as home secretary - has warned companies they have “no excuse” for filing the gender pay gap results late. |
| Not sure she mentioned it to her own party, however. The Conservative party has already said that it won’t be filing its figures until tomorrow. To be fair, on the snapshot day last April 5 they employed fewer than 250 people, so technically don’t have to file anything. but still, it is Quite Funny. | Not sure she mentioned it to her own party, however. The Conservative party has already said that it won’t be filing its figures until tomorrow. To be fair, on the snapshot day last April 5 they employed fewer than 250 people, so technically don’t have to file anything. but still, it is Quite Funny. |
| The Labour party filed its gender pay gap earlier this month, revealing that female employees earned 4% less than their male counterparts. This compares with the national median average of 18.4%. The Liberal Democrats have a smaller workforce than either of the two main parties and are not expected to publish their results. | The Labour party filed its gender pay gap earlier this month, revealing that female employees earned 4% less than their male counterparts. This compares with the national median average of 18.4%. The Liberal Democrats have a smaller workforce than either of the two main parties and are not expected to publish their results. |
| Welcome to the Guardian’s gender pay gap live blog. Companies with more than 250 employees have until midnight tonight to reveal the gap between the average hourly rate paid to male and female employees. | Welcome to the Guardian’s gender pay gap live blog. Companies with more than 250 employees have until midnight tonight to reveal the gap between the average hourly rate paid to male and female employees. |
| We’ve already seen a slew of companies reporting in the last few days, some with massive pay gaps, but all eyes will be on the final stragglers as they attempt to make it over the line. | We’ve already seen a slew of companies reporting in the last few days, some with massive pay gaps, but all eyes will be on the final stragglers as they attempt to make it over the line. |
| On the government gender pay gap reporting you can see the difference between men and women’s hourly rate, the bonus gap and how many men and women make up the workforce in the lowest, middle and top earning jobs. We’ll be picking out trends and highlighting the best and worst gender pay gaps in companies across the UK. | On the government gender pay gap reporting you can see the difference between men and women’s hourly rate, the bonus gap and how many men and women make up the workforce in the lowest, middle and top earning jobs. We’ll be picking out trends and highlighting the best and worst gender pay gaps in companies across the UK. |
| The gender pay gap isn’t about equal pay for equal work, but it does reveal the average gap between all wages at a company and shows that in many the upper echelons are still dominated by men. That has thrown up serious questions about the reasons behind the gender pay gap and what can be done to address it. | The gender pay gap isn’t about equal pay for equal work, but it does reveal the average gap between all wages at a company and shows that in many the upper echelons are still dominated by men. That has thrown up serious questions about the reasons behind the gender pay gap and what can be done to address it. |
| We would love you to join in the conversation. What is the gender pay gap in your company, and what- if anything- are they going to do about it? | We would love you to join in the conversation. What is the gender pay gap in your company, and what- if anything- are they going to do about it? |
| You can contribute via our callout, commenting below the line, by emailing me on alexandra.topping@theguardian.com or by tweeting me @lexytopping | You can contribute via our callout, commenting below the line, by emailing me on alexandra.topping@theguardian.com or by tweeting me @lexytopping |