Dorset women effectively work for free for more than two months of the year

• In Dorset the gender pay gap is wider than the UK and women work for free until 17 March
• Women’s Pay Day – the day when the average woman starts getting paid compared to the average man – is Wednesday 6 March
• Women effectively work for free for 65 days of the year compared to men

Analysis published by the TUC today (Wednesday) reveals that the average woman has to wait more than two months of the calendar year before she starts to get paid, compared to the average man. But in Dorset the pay gap is much wider and means women work to 21 March before getting paid the same as men

The current gender pay gap for all employees stands at 17.9%. This pay gap means that women effectively work for free for the first 65 days of the year, until they begin to get paid on Women’s Pay Day today.

Women in Dorset (21.3% pay gap) wait until 17 March

The widest pay gap is between men and women in Christchurch where the gap is 27.8% equivalent to working until 6 April for nothing!

Industrial gender pay gaps

The analysis also shows that in a number of key industries – even in those dominated by female workers like education and social work – gender pay gaps are even bigger. In these sectors women get paid much less on average than men, both because they are more likely to be in part-time jobs and because they are in lower-paid roles.

• In education the gender pay gap is currently 25.9%, so the average woman effectively works for free for more than a quarter of the year (95 days) and has to wait until the 4 April 2019 before she starts earning the same as the average man.
• In information and communication, the average woman waits 77 days for her Women’s Pay Day on 18 March 2019.
• The longest wait for Women’s Pay Day comes in finance and insurance. The gender pay gap is the equivalent of 130 days, meaning its more than a third of the year before Women’s Pay Day finally kicks in on 10 May 2019.

TUC South West Regional Secretary Nigel Costley said:

“The South West has an even worse pay gap than the UK which still has one of the worst gender pay gaps in Europe. Women effectively work for free for two months of the year – and at current rates of progress it’ll take another 60 years for this gap to close.

“Making employers publish information on their gender pay gaps is a start but it’s nowhere near enough.  Employers must be legally required to explain how they’ll tackle pay inequality at their workplaces and advertise jobs on a more flexible basis.

“Women in the region will only start to get paid properly when part-time jobs are better-paid and jobs are flexible from day one. And we need higher wages in key sectors like social care.

“Workplaces that recognise unions are more likely to have family-friendly policies and fair pay. So a good first step for women worried about their pay is to join a union.”

More information:

• Women’s Pay Day is the day of the year when the average woman starts being paid, compared to the average man.
• The TUC introduced Women’s Pay Day in 2017 to replace Equal Pay Day, the day of the year when the average womanstops being paid compared to the average man.
• The overall gender pay gap is calculated using all median hourly pay, excluding overtime, for all male and female employees using the latest ASHE data. The gender pay gap percentage (17.9% in the latest ASHE data) is then translated into days of the year (65 days) when women start earning the equivalent to men.

– The gender pay gap is calculated using all median hourly pay, excluding overtime, for male and female employees from the ONS ASHE data:www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/bulletins/annualsurveyofhoursandearnings/2017provisionaland2016revisedresults
– Since 2011 the gender pay gap has fallen by an average of just 0.3 percentage points a year. At this rate it will take around 60 years (until 2078) to achieve pay parity between men and women.
– For information about gender splits in industries please visit:www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/employmentbyindustryemp13
– Gender pay gap reporting:  From 1 April 2017, the government ruled that large companies have to publish information about the difference between average male and female earnings. The TUC believes the government must go further and wants employers to be made to carry out equal pay audits, and to produce action plans to close the pay gap in their workplace. The TUC also wants companies that fail to comply with the law to receive instant fines. 
– The Trades Union Congress (TUC) exists to make the working world a better place for everyone. We bring together more than 5.5 million working people who make up our 49 member unions. We support unions to grow and thrive, and we stand up for everyone who works for a living.