More women stuck on low pay

FAR more women than men are stuck in low-paid jobs, sparking renewed fears about the gender pay gap.

Nearly one in four women workers are being paid less than the Living Wage of £8.45 per hour, compared with only 15 per cent of men.

Almost two-thirds of workers who earn less than the Living Wage – an independent calculation of what workers and their families need to live – are women, according to figures contained in a Scottish parliament report.

There are 466,000 Scots whose salary is less than the Living Wage and 64 per cent, or 297,000 of them are women, says the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Of all women workers north of the Border, 24.3 per cent are paid less than the Living Wage, compared to 15.4 per cent of working men.

The figures come after the row over the gender pay gap at the BBC, where men were found to be routinely paid much more than women who are doing the same job.

Labour shadow Scottish Secretary Lesley Laird said: ‘While the debate has been focused on those at the top, almost 300,000 women in Scotland earn less than the Living Wage, with significantly fewer men in the same situation.

‘Not only are women paid less than men, and with more barriers to progression, but hundreds of thousands in Scotland are paid less than the Living Wage.’

Employability Minister Jamie Hepburn said: ‘The full-time gender pay gap is significantly narrower in Scotland than across the UK, and Scotland has the highest proportion of employees paid at least the Living Wage.

‘We are also taking steps to ensure women are better represented in senior and decision-making roles, on public boards, challenging maternity discrimination and funding returners’ programmes.’