For further comments or to arrange an interview, contact Kate Andrews, Head of Communications, at kate@adamsmith.org | 07584 778207. Commenting on David Cameron's announcement to make businesses with 250+ employees publish their pay gap figures, Head of Communications at the Adam Smith Institute Kate Andrews said:

It’s a sad state of affairs when even the Prime Minister is promoting the gender pay gap myth. According to the ONS, women between the ages of 22 – 39 working more than 30 hours a week earn, on average, more than their male counterparts.

Forcing business with more than 250 employees to publish their ‘pay gaps’ will only promote more myths and confusion. There is no such thing as an ‘average salary’; education, previous experiences, negotiating tactics, and unique abilities all contribute to one’s salary, none of which can be known by comparing John and Jane’s annual take-home pay on a spreadsheet.

Furthermore, men and women often choose to make difference career decisions – usually based on flexibility and rigor – so they can embrace other, equally meaningful parts of their life; this, naturally, can be reflected in their pay.

The Prime Minster’s claim that the implementation of the National Living Wage will primarily help women in lower paid jobs is a weak justification for another recent policy faux pas. It is women, particularly who are less-skilled or less-educated, who are most likely to be part of the 60,000 who are estimated by the OBR to be cut by their employers when they are unable to afford this wage increase.

FTSE 100 companies have met the proposed target for 25% female board members not because the government told them to, but because women, through their own abilities and determination, are thriving in the work place more than ever before. But leave it to the government to try to usurp their achievements.

Notes to editors:

For further comments or to arrange an interview, contact Kate Andrews, Head of Communications, at kate@adamsmith.org | 07584 778207.

The Adam Smith Institute is a free market, libertarian think tank based in London. It advocates classically liberal public policies to create a richer, freer world.