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Commenting on today’s (Thursday) announcement by Women and Equalities Minister Nicky Morgan that large companies will have to publish their gender pay gaps by 2018, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

date: 11 February 2016
embargo: 00.01hrs Friday 12 February

Commenting on today’s (Thursday) announcement by Women and Equalities Minister Nicky Morgan that large companies will have to publish their gender pay gaps by 2018, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

“If David Cameron is serious about ending the gender pay gap within a generation we need a much bolder approach from ministers.

“While today’s announcement is a step in the right direction, we’re disappointed that firms won’t have to publish their gender pay gap figures until 2018. There is no need for such a long delay.

“And it is a real shame that bosses won’t be made to explain why pay gaps exist in their workplaces and what action they will take to narrow them.

“Employers can’t be allowed to treat this as a tick-box exercise. They must open their books and explain what they are doing to address their pay gaps. Failure to comply must result in tough sanctions and fines.

“It is shocking the UK still has such a large gender pay gap 45 years after the Equal Pay Act. At currents rates of progress it will take another half a century to close it.”

The TUC estimates that if the gender pay gap continues to fall at its current rate of 0.2 percentage points a year, it will take 47 years to achieve pay parity between men and women.

Between 1997 and 2010 the full-time pay gap fell by 7.3 percentage points. However, since then progress has slowed and between 2010 and 2015 the gap fell by just 0.7 percentage points.

Commenting on Nicky Morgan’s pledge to get more young women into Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) Subjects, Frances O’Grady said: 

“Nicky Morgan is right to encourage more young women to pursue STEM careers.

“However, this means dealing with our fragmented schools careers service, which even now steers boys and girls into stereotypical jobs.

“And the government mustn’t turn a blind eye to the fact that many women currently in STEM industries are leaving these professions in their 30s, due to working practices and cultures that don’t fit with family life.”


NOTES TO EDITORS:
- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk
- Follow the TUC on Twitter: @The_TUC and follow the TUC press team @tucnews
Contacts:
Media enquiries:
Alex Rossiter  T: 020 7467 1285  M: 07887 572130  E: arossiter@tuc.org.uk
Tim Nichols  T: 020 7467 1388  M: 07808 761844  E: tnichols@tuc.org.uk
Michael Pidgeon  T: 020 7467 1372  M: 07717 531150  E: mpidgeon@tuc.org.uk
Elly Gibson (Mon to Thurs)  T: 020 7467 1337  M: 07900 910624  E: egibson@tuc.org.uk

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