Women must wait 70 years for equal pay

It will take 70 years to achieve equal pay among men and women in the country’s top jobs according to a report

Despite the progress of women breaking through the glass ceiling into positions of authority at work, it could be 70 years before they are paid the same as men, according to a report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

The Sex and Power 2011 survey reveals that women only represent 12.5 per cent of FTSE 100 company directors and just 22.2 per cent of MPs, while claiming 5,400 women are missing from the country’s 26,000 most powerful jobs in business.

The government has set itself the goal that half of all new applicants recruited to public boards will be women by 2015 but Anna Bird, acting chief executive of the Fawcett Society says that in 2011 women remain largely excluded from positions of power.

‘Without radical action, babies born today will be drawing their pensions before they can hope to have equal say in the world of politics, business and education,’ she says. This report must act as a call to arms; the Government and others can no longer turn a blind eye to this injustice.’

The report analysed the composition of Britain’s 26,000 most powerful posts, across 27 occupational categories in the public and private sectors, including politics, the media, arts, museums and theFTSE 100 leading companies.

The study suggests the slow progress of female integration into leading jobs means that taxpayers investment into women’s education, particularly at university where women now achieve better results than men, is being wasted.

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