.ltWomen earn less than 75% of the average hourly pay for men
The Times,
6 July 1986
Women still earn less than three quarters of the average hourly earnings of men, despite a decade of progress in other areas of equality, according to a report published yesterday by the Equal Opportunities Commission.
Charting the progress of Britain's women from 1975 to 1985, the commission says that "glaring pay inequality" affects millions of working women who depend on their wages to support their family.
In the five years between 1970 and 1975, women's hourly earnings increased from 63 per cent of that of men to 75.5 per cent, according to the report.
But progress towards equal pay came to a halt after 1977 and until April last year the average hourly earnings of full-time women workers, aged 18 and over, remained stationary at 73 to 74 per cent of those for men.
"Whether this position will improve in the light of the January 1984 amendments to the Equal Pay Act still remains to be seen," the report says.
Women comprise 51.3 per cent of the population and 41.4 per cent of the workforce, according to the latest government figures.
Ten years ago full-time male workers aged 18 and over earned a gross average of 136.3 p an hour, compared to 98.3 p for women. In 1985 men earned a gross average of 445.3 p an hour, compared with 329.9p for women.
The report says that the gap between male and female weekly pay is wider than that for hourly pay, reflecting the longer hours and particularly the greater overtime worked by men.
The gross weekly earnings of full-time women workers, including overtime, last year averaged 65.9 per cent of men's compared with 61.5 per cent in 1975.
In 1975 men's average gross weekly earnings stood at just over ú60 compared to ú37 for women, but by 1985 men earned an average of ú190.40 compared with ú125.50 for women.
The 1984 Family Expenditure Survey showed that in 69 per cent of households with a gross weekly income of ú200 or above, married women were in paid employment, compared with 39 per cent of households with an income of ú100 to ú200 and only 12 per cent of households with an income of less than ú100.
The EOC said that last year there were only four successful claims for equal pay for equal work, from a total of 16 before industrial tribunals. Five cases were being appealed against.
But the commission says there were many reforms during the past decade which provided more equality of opportunity in education, and reduced sexual discrimination in advertising and the workplace.
Baroness Platt of Writtle, the commission's chairman, said yesterday that it would try ensure that its code of practice on employment, approved by Parliament in April last year, is accepted by employers throughout the country over the next decade.
.lcThe Equal Opportunities Commission survey for 1994 shows that on average women earned 79.5% of men's pay.
