News and features

Mon, 10 Jan 2011

Pay inequality 'to exist for decades'

Gender equality is likely to exist in the workplace past 2020, a new report has suggested.

Research from Friends Provident and+ the Future Foundation revealed a third of Britons have accepted the fact that men and women will not receive equal pay within the next ten years.

And the study warned that balance in this area could be decades away, due partially to the different approaches men and women take to working.

The research showed 37 per cent of men see their salary as the most important aspect of their job, a figure that falls to 24 per cent among women.

Half of all females questioned said enjoying their time at work is the key element with one in five (20 per cent) saying they would be prepared to take a wage cut in return for more holiday - a figure that is halved to ten per cent among males.

Human resources director at Friends Provident Gillian Fox said that the research "demonstrates an emerging difference between men and women's priorities in the workplace, which could impact the likelihood of reaching gender equality in the future".

"There seems to be an increasing demand from women for more flexible working hours, longer holidays and less call for higher salaries when compared to their male peers," she remarked, adding that firms will need to see how their productivity will be affected by the growing number of woman that are showing an interest in working less.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development recently conduced research showing 51 per cent of businesses see making their pay levels competitive as one of their main priorities for 2010.

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