Women close the pay gap

WOMEN working in the private sector are closing the pay gap with men. The difference in fulltime salaries has fallen by a third since the late 1990s, official statistics reveal.

And women working part-time have overtaken their male counterparts. However, in the public sector the difference has widened for part-timers and has stayed almost the same for those in full-time jobs.

The Office for National Statistics found that between 1997 and this year the pay gap in the private sector narrowed by just over a third. Women’s average full-time weekly wages were 23.8 per cent less than those of men in 1997 but only 15.9 per cent lower this year.

In the public sector, though, the fall was less, from 13.5 per cent to 13.1 per cent. And for women working part-time the difference has increased from 6.1 per cent to 22.3 per cent. The overall pay gap for full-timers is 9.1 per cent, compared with 17.4 per cent in 1997. The biggest gap – 14.6 per cent – is in London.