Tuesday August 30, 02:25 PM (
www.yahoo.co.uk)
Women suffer from 'gender pay gap'Women earn an average of 27% less than their male colleagues, according to new research.
Men receive average annual salaries of £30,948, while women lag behind, earning just £23,977 on average each year, according to salary comparison website PayFinder.com.
There is also evidence that the gender pay divide is getting worse, as the gap between men's and women's pay has increased by 3% during the past year.
The difference between men's and women's salaries is biggest in London, where men get paid an average of 35% more than women at £39,022 compared with women's £28,833.
Men get paid an average of 32% more than women in the East Midlands and the South East, while they earn around 30% more in the North West and South West and 29% more in Scotland and the East of England.
The gender pay divide is smallest in Northern Ireland, where at £25,998 men earn only 15% more than women, who can expect £22,581 a year, while they get paid 19% more in the North East, and 21% more in Wales, according to the details of more than 160,000 people who have registered with PayFinder.
One reason why women get paid less than men maybe that women tend to shy away from wage negotiations, with 66% of women claiming they are too scared to ask for more money, compared with just 24% of men.
CJ Brough, of PayFinder.com, said: "This year's PayFinder report highlights that sex discrimination is still rife in the workplace.
"Invariably discrepancies in salary are explained via a difference in ability, which in turn is based on skill set and experience. Aside from the legal ramifications, it's a nonsense that gender could be a factor in determining salary level.
"Why then do we see such a marked difference in male and female salaries? And before anyone cites female job choice as a possible cause, PayFinder also shows that regardless of industry and indeed role, men still earn more than women."
