New Trades Union Congress (TUC) analysis reveals Women’s Pay Day – the day when the average woman stops working for free compared to the average man – is today, Wednesday 21 February. In some industries and in some parts of the country where the gender pay gap is wider, women effectively work for free for even longer
Women’s Pay Day: 52 days of working for free
New TUC analysis published on 21 February reveals that the average woman effectively works for free for nearly two months of the year compared to the average man. This is because the gender pay gap for all employees currently stands at 14.3%.
This pay gap means that working women must wait 52 days – nearly two months – before they stop working for free on Women’s Pay Day today.
And the analysis also shows that at current rates of progress, it will take 20 years – until 2044 – to close the gender pay gap.
read more: https://www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2024/02/21/womens-pay-day/
I’ve read a study based on data from Denmark that showed that this is (at least no longer) the case. Earnings are the same until the woman actually leaves the workforce for 1 or 2 years. This pause in gaining workplace experience is what correlates with reduced income, not the expectation that this will eventually happen.
That’s awesome that they’ve managed to cut down on that in Denmark, but that’s unfortunately not the case everywhere. We’re making progress, but the fight is far from over.