Boy, do we have a problem, girls

CONGRATULATIONS to all those girls who did so well in their A-levels last week.

Girls slightly outperformed boys in landing A or A* results, so well done them.

And congratulations in advance to all those girls nervously awaiting GCSE results tomorrow where they are expected once again to outstrip boys in gaining a C grade or above for the 27th year in succession.

So, girls, what’s to be the glittering prize for all that hard work and commitment? Ah, sorry, did no one mention this before?

The result is you’ll be paid 18% less than the boy who was sat opposite you picking his nose through geography for six years.

And if you have kids, the gap will increase to a cavernous 33% behind those boys who thought history meant being able to recite the Chelsea squad for the past five seasons.

Oh, and as your children grow up, your wage gap will only increase. Along with your fury.

Research by the Chartered Management Institute has also found that in the past year 14% of men in management roles were promoted compared with just 10% of women.

And the good news? Nope. There isn’t any. Yeah, of course I’m not being fair. I’m not being fair to boys who do work hard at school and boys who become men who work hard at work. And I’m possibly not being fair to women who are happy to give up all paid employment for the unappreciated and unending job of full-time mum.

But there is nothing fair about this debate. Women are being punished for procreating. Fined for our Fallopian tubes.

In fact, with women even prechildbirth earning 6% less than men, we’re being penalised for the mere prospect of pregnancy.

Of course most women’s priorities change once they have children. They want to spend time with their babies and more often than not the bulk of childcare still falls to them. But for the vast, vast majority of women – just as with men –work isn’t some journey of self-fulfillment. It’s what pays the bills.

So women have to and want to work. Just as they have to and want to care for their children. Which is why we need a society – and employers – who accept this. Who promote flexible working and pay part-time workers a proper salary for doing a proper job.

Once children are at school after just a few short years, the balance of family life shifts again. But long after this, when women may be back fulltime at work, they and their families are still being penalised.

In 2018, big companies will be required to reveal the pay gap between male and female workers. It seems a pity companies are having to be shamed into doing the right thing. But it’s where we are. And perhaps the first step towards true equality.

Equality doesn’t mean being the same. We’re not all the same and life throws us different experiences. But we should all have the same opportunities.

Right now, the opportunities for young women celebrating exam results will be sucked away from their very first day at work.