Gender pay gap increases
Updated on 14 November 2008
The gender pay gap has increased over the past year and now stands at 17.1%, official figures showed.
The difference in earnings of full-time women and male workers rose by 0.1% over the year, while for part-timers the gap also widened to more than 36%.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "Friday's shock increase in the gender pay gap makes the case for decisive action more pressing than ever.
"This is an injustice for both women and men. As redundancies mount, more women may find themselves as the sole or main income earner. It's more important than ever that they are not underpaid for what they do."
The figures from the Office for National Statistics also showed that average earnings for full-time employees increased by 4.6% in the year to April to £479 a week.
The figure increased by 4.6% to £521 for men and by 4.4% for women to £412.
The number of jobs with pay less than the national minimum wage fell by 8,000 over the year to 288,000, just over 1% of the total number of jobs in the UK.
Part-time workers were more than twice as likely as full-timers to be paid less than the statutory rate.
The TUC said the gender pay gap was even wider in the private sector, at 21.7%, adding that research showed private firms were much less willing to check their pay systems to make sure they were paying women fairly.
Mr Barber added: "The link between fair pay and checking pay systems is clear. The case for mandatory pay audits is stronger than ever."
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