Equal Pay Day: More than one million young women say they have been paid less than male colleagues for same work, research finds

More than one million young women in Britain say they have been paid less than male colleagues for the equivalent work, new research has found.

The survey by the Young Women's Trust found one in five reported having been paid less than male colleagues for either the same or similar work.

The organisation, who help young women on low or no pay, draw attention to the fact some employers do this knowingly despite it actually being illegal.

The study found one in ten HR decision-makers in organisations which have over 250 staff are aware of women in their organisation earning less than men for jobs which are of the same level.

More than half of young women researchers spoke to said they do not feel confident challenging their employer about the issue and one in seven said they are disappointed by the approach of their employer.

Young Women’s Trust chief executive, Dr Carole Easton OBE, said: “Women face a gender pay gap from the moment they start work, and it is not budging.”

She pointed to research the charity had done which shows young women apprentices earn eight per cent less than their male counterparts, leaving them more than £1,000 a year worse off.

Dr Easton argued this was because women often tend to work in sectors – such as administration, health and social care and retail – which are neither valued nor paid as highly as they should be.

“Not only is there a huge job to do to close this legal gender pay gap, but still in 2018, we are fighting unequal pay, which has been illegal for nearly 50 years," she said. "If 2018 is to be a turning point for women’s equality, and not just a footnote in history, then we need deeds, not words.

"This means valuing women’s work, supporting young women into male-dominated sectors and mandating employers to put in place plans to close pay gaps and pay women fairly for their work. Without action, today’s young women face a lifetime of unequal pay.”

The findings come on the eve of Equal Pay Day on Saturday - the day in the year when women effectively start to work for free in comparison to men due to lower pay.

Women are on average paid 13.7 per cent less than men. This gap has not altered much in recent years and has actually expanded for young women.

One in three employees does not know that it is illegal for women to be paid less than men to do the same jobs, according to a new report also released by the Fawcett Society on the eve of the day.

The study by the women’s rights campaign group found a culture of pay secrecy in UK workplaces allows pay discrimination to “thrive”.

The research found 61 per cent of workers say they would be uncomfortable asking a colleague how much they earn. Half of those surveyed say their managers would “respond negatively to more openness, indicating they think it is difficult to challenge”.

The group and employment law charity YESS Law have launched a new Equal Pay Advice Service targeting low-income workers in an attempt to address the problem.

The service, which they are fundraising for via GoFundMe, will be targeted at those on low incomes who believe they are experiencing pay discrimination and who do not have access to legal advice. It will strive to enable them to resolve the situation with their employer.

The group’s new advice service will be financed through an Equal Pay Fund that was established with a donation of backdated pay from former BBC journalist Carrie Gracie, who quit her job as China editor after learning two of her male peers were paid significantly more.

“The fight for equal pay often pits a lone woman against a very powerful employer,” Ms Gracie said. “Without the support of other BBC women and without great legal advice, I would have struggled to get through my own equal pay ordeal."

“Many women in other workplaces have since told me about their feelings of loneliness and helplessness in confronting pay discrimination. I feel particularly concerned about low paid women who may not be able to afford legal advice.”

Sam Smethers, Fawcett Society chief executive, said: “In workplaces all over the country, pay discrimination is able to thrive and is more common than people realise because of a culture of pay secrecy which persists. People do not know their basic rights and do not know what their colleagues earn.”

Earlier this year, government-mandated reporting by UK employers with 250 or more workers showed an average pay gap of 9.8 per cent.

Dawn Butler MP, Labour’s shadow minister for women and equalities, criticised the Tories for failing to do enough to tackle systemic issues behind the gender pay gap.

“The fact that Equal Pay Day has fallen on the same date for three consecutive years shows we still have a very long way to go in the fight for equality. This Conservative government has failed to tackle the underlying structural issues that result in women being paid less than men,” she said.

“It’s time to close the gender pay gap so that one day there will not be an Equal Pay Day. To address these deep-rooted inequalities, we need action from government, not just audits. The next Labour government will require all large employers to prove exactly how they plan to tackle their gender pay gaps. We must end the scourge of unequal pay once and for all.”