Will disclosed gender pay data help women in the workplace? Kate Andrews argues NO in City AM
Head of Communications Kate Andrews argued that Cameron's plan to make large businesses disclose their gender pay gaps will not help women in the workplace in the City AM debate forum:
Kate Andrews, head of communications at the Adam Smith Institute, says No
Gender pay gap stats are already manipulated to suggest that women are the targets of sexist employers throughout the UK. But the facts simply don’t support this. Women aged 22-39 working more than 30 hours a week are paid more hourly than their male counterparts.
There’s also evidence that women who stay on their career path are more likely to be promoted by their employers. Furthermore, if women truly earned less for “being women”, employers would surely drop their male staff to increase their profits. The truth behind the pay gap is not gender discrimination, but rather different choices down the line that lead some women to value other things in life more than their salary.
If large businesses are forced to publish their alleged pay gaps, we will be left with more meaningless, inaccurate numbers that will only perpetuate the myth. The numerous and complex factors that go into determining salary cannot simply be explained by a number on a spreadsheet.