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Skip to main contentPay gaps are a hot button topic in the UK. Despite data proving the existence of pay gaps, the nature and very presence of it is debated in many circles.
Luckily, we’re stepping towards actual change, with the UK Government announcing gender pay gap tables from 2018 onwards. Any company with 250+ employees will be required to publish info. For the time being, however, the pay gap is here. How is it affecting different groups?
Purchasing Power
The UK is already in the grips of a housing crisis, and with a 3% inflation in October 2017, the cost of everything is going up. Whilst this is felt by everyone, it is particularly hard-going on certain groups. A recent study showed that the minority ethnicities earn £8900 less than the equivalent majority ethnic families. The gender pay gap remains, too, with women technically working for free from October onwards. The good news is that interest rates remain low, which means creditors are able to continue to offer assistance to these groups, as demonstrated by this Finnish example.
Business Success
A study performed by Credit Suisse has advocated the proactive instatement of women and minority groups in management positions. They found that having such people on boards, and equalising pay, brought varied benefits to the business’ economic performance.
The National Economy
In the current turbulent economic climate that has persisted since 2008, the government and businesses are continually looking for quick wins. That is, easily implemented ideas that bring decent results. Reducing the gender pay gap in particular could help to address this, with research by Fawcett suggesting that equalising pay will bring £150bn by 2025.
There is also the fact that more money equates to more spending; if extra wages are provided, the local community can expect to benefit.
Retirement
Many companies opt for a pensionable rate of between 4.7-8.5% depending on your seniority and wage. Accordingly, when your pay is reduced by the amounts outlined above, you quite simply have less in your pension pot when you reach retirement. With British women especially living longer than men, and longer every year, the importance of a heavy pension pot can’t be understated.
The pay gap often seems to be a one-group issue - the group it’s affecting. This couldn’t be further from the truth, and pay gaps actually affect us all in ways we might not have anticipated.
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