Sadiq Khan, having proclaimed himself a 'proud feminist' during his campaign for London mayor, has today taken steps towards closing the gender pay gap in London.
The labour party mayor has proven his left-wing progressive views before, to the great support of London. During the first few weeks of his mayoralty, Khan appointed three out of four major positions to women.
Now, he has made public the results of an internal study into gender pay inequality across the Greater London Authority group.
The study found that there is an inequality between the sexes of 4.6 per cent within City Hall- something that Khan has pledged to eradicate by launching an action plan across the Greater London Authority empire.
The Metropolitan Police, Transport for London and The London Fire Brigade have all been encouraged by the mayor to produce their own reports and action plans, should the reports reveal a gender pay gap.
The pay gap for full time London workers outside of City hall, is 11.9 per cent, and across the rest of the UK, the figure is more like 19.1 per cent.
He said 'I want to do all I can to ensure women have the same opportunities as men in London so that their hard work and talent is fully and fairly recognised by employers.'
'It is unacceptable that in London, one of the world's greatest and most progressive cities, someone's pay and career prospects can still be defined by their gender.'
Khan's 'leading by example' approach shows that he is pretty committed to actually acting upon the promises he made the people of London during his bid for mayor.
'I am determined to make the GLA a model employer that removes any barriers to women by adopting the highest possible standards for fair pay, good working conditions and gender equality.'
During his run for mayor, Sadiq Khan called for the London Living Wage to be made £10 an hour, to remain in line with high living costs in London, as a way to rid the city of 'in work poverty'. This poverty particularly affects women, as they often complete part-time jobs in order to manage childcare on the side, but it would seem that even when women are in full time employment in the top sectors, they are paid significantly less than their male counterparts.
This is the first step towards gender equality in the workplace, as recognised by Sophie Walker, leader of the Women's Equality Party. Walker was pleased that the mayor has released the figures and proposed change, but was acutely aware of the multiplicity of problems that face women in the workplace.
'Londoners' childcare is a third more expensive than anywhere in the UK and without taking the lack of affordable childcare into account these measures can't be fully successful,' she is quoted in the Standard.
'Where's the City Hall creche and childcare support for City Hall employees and where is the investment right across London, where women are more likely than anywhere in the country to be living in poverty and doing low-paid jobs?'
However, it definitely feels like a step in the right direction. When the end goal is achieving total workplace equality, there are lots of elements to consider, and dispelling the gender pay gap is a significant move forward.
