The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has launched a new online tool allowing users to calculate their gender pay gap by profession.
The tool makes use of data from the ONS’s latest Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), and reveals that construction workers, financial managers and directors have the highest gender pay gaps.
The ONS has suggested, however, that the pay gap figures do not show the differences in rates of pay for comparable jobs.
Experts have outlined many factors that contribute towards the gender pay gap, from the fact that a greater number of women work in lower paid jobs or sectors, women are more likely to work part-time and the fact that women are ‘underrepresented in senior roles’.
The creation of the tool comes following the announcement earlier this year of new gender pay gap reporting rules for large companies.
Businesses with more than 250 employees will be required to reveal exactly how much they pay male and female employees in salaries and bonuses.
Large companies will need to begin calculating their gap from April 2017. Employers will also be required to publish their pay gap on their website, and must do so by 4 April 2018.
Justine Greening, Minister for Women and Equalities, stated: ‘If we are to help women to reach their potential and eliminate the gender pay gap, we need to shine a light on our workplaces to see where there is more to do.
‘This tool will empower both men and women to challenge this issue in their profession and help people to make more informed decisions about their career.’
The tool can be found here: http://visual.ons.gov.uk/find-out-the-gender-pay-gap-for-your-job/.
