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| Women should ask male colleagues how much they earn, says UK minister | Women should ask male colleagues how much they earn, says UK minister |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Women should ask their male colleagues how much they earn if they want to get equal pay, Jo Swinson, the equalities minister, has said. | Women should ask their male colleagues how much they earn if they want to get equal pay, Jo Swinson, the equalities minister, has said. |
| The senior Liberal Democrat said a "very British" reluctance to talk about pay could hold women back from getting pay rises. | The senior Liberal Democrat said a "very British" reluctance to talk about pay could hold women back from getting pay rises. |
| Speaking to Elle magazine as part of its campaign for equal pay, Swinson said many women did not realise they were being paid less than their male counterparts. | Speaking to Elle magazine as part of its campaign for equal pay, Swinson said many women did not realise they were being paid less than their male counterparts. |
| "One of the things I think is brilliant about your campaign is encouraging people to open up about their pay," she said. | |
| "I think sometimes there's something very British in our culture where we don't talk about money, and I think that holds women back. If they realised they were earning significantly less than male colleagues at a similar level, that might be the catalyst they need to ask for a pay rise." | "I think sometimes there's something very British in our culture where we don't talk about money, and I think that holds women back. If they realised they were earning significantly less than male colleagues at a similar level, that might be the catalyst they need to ask for a pay rise." |
| Swinson said the government might have to impose "equal pay audits" on companies if it did not see improvement in the gap between what men and women earn. | Swinson said the government might have to impose "equal pay audits" on companies if it did not see improvement in the gap between what men and women earn. |
| The minister said she would call herself a feminist without hesitation, just days after David Cameron said he did not know whether he was. Several days later, the prime minister said he was a feminist if it meant "equal rights for women". | |
| Swinson said she was "sad when you hear people don't want to call themselves a feminist, whether they're a bloke or a teenage girl, who thinks the word has negative connotations". | Swinson said she was "sad when you hear people don't want to call themselves a feminist, whether they're a bloke or a teenage girl, who thinks the word has negative connotations". |
| She added: "We should be encouraging people to be happy to declare themselves as feminists. And I think in some sections of the media there is a tendency to associate feminism with bra-burning extremism. But it's about very mainstream views about women's role in society. | She added: "We should be encouraging people to be happy to declare themselves as feminists. And I think in some sections of the media there is a tendency to associate feminism with bra-burning extremism. But it's about very mainstream views about women's role in society. |
| "We need to be very clear about claiming that word as something positive and I think that the new momentum behind a lot of feminist campaigns is exciting and is showing that there are still a lot of issues where we haven't solved it. | "We need to be very clear about claiming that word as something positive and I think that the new momentum behind a lot of feminist campaigns is exciting and is showing that there are still a lot of issues where we haven't solved it. |
| "It's not about hating men; this is about creating a society where men and women working together can achieve more, rather than being pitted against each other in stereotypical archaic roles." | "It's not about hating men; this is about creating a society where men and women working together can achieve more, rather than being pitted against each other in stereotypical archaic roles." |
| The Elle campaign is designed to highlight the 17.4% average pay gap between men and women. It urges female workers to ask male colleagues what they earn if they do the same job. | |
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