How does gender inequality affect income?
What is the gender pay gap?
Statistics show women sometimes earn less than men for doing similarly skilled work. According to the UK government, in 2022 the gender pay gap (the difference between men’s and women’s median average hourly pay) was 9.71%. Put another way, in 2022 median pay for women per hour was £2.41 compared to men at £2.68.
Work – type of job and hours
Over 38% of women work part-time, compared to just 14% of men. This, overall, leads to women earning less. However, women who are working part-time tend to work in lower skilled, lower paid roles. These are known as the ‘5 C’s’: caring, clerical, cashiering, catering, and cleaning. Only 12% of women who work part-time in the private sector are in high-skilled jobs.
What is the glass ceiling?
The ‘glass ceiling’ refers to a situation where women can see the path to the jobs at the top of an organisation, but there are invisible barriers preventing them from obtaining these posts. In 2023, the Alliance - Sex and Power Report revealed that only 7% of Scotland’s top businesses were led by women although women make up more than 40% of the UK workforce. One reason why the ‘glass ceiling’ continues to exist is gender discrimination. But there are also other reasons why there are fewer women in top jobs including the consequences of having and raising children, greater general caring roles and employer inflexible work options e.g. no opportunity to work late, work early or work weekends.
Women in politics
How many women are in politics?
In politics, there is often an under-representation of women. In the UK Parliament only 31% (225 from 650 MPs) of MPs were women in 2023.
Why are women underrepresented in politics?
Getting involved in politics is time consuming as political life means elected representatives must attend many evening meetings and are expected to be ‘always available, anytime’ by phone, email or social media. Those with family commitments such as looking after children and elderly relatives, who are still more likely to be women, are put off getting involved in politics.
Women in the Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament has led the way in having more family-friendly working hours and holidays and this has helped increase women’s representation. In 2023, there were 58 female MSPs in the Scottish out of 129 which was 45% of all MSPs.
