In the UK, women earn just 81p for every £1 a man makes, therefore from November 4 until the end of the year, we will effectively be working unpaid. Today is the day that UK women stop earning relative to men.
Equality lobbying group the Fawcett Society explains, "More than 40 years after the Equal Pay Act was enacted in 1970, women’s earnings continue to be significantly lower than men’s and the situation is getting worse, with the gender pay gap widening for the first time in five years in 2013."
According to the society's research, in real terms that means on average, women working full-time earn almost £5,000 a year less than men, and while it will take the average man until age 51 to earn £1 million pounds, a women have to wait nearly 20 years longer, until she is 70.
The Fawcett Society reports, "The past year has also seen the UK slide significantly down the rankings of gender equal societies – falling in the World Economic Forum rankings from 18th to 26th. The UK now lags behind 14 European countries, as well as the United States, Rwanda and Nicaragua."
Last year we worked on the Make Them Pay campaign with advertising agency Mother to encourage women to ask male colleagues of the same level what they earned - and lobby employers to sign up to the government's Think, Act, Report initiative. Did you take part? With the upcoming election, do you think enough is being done to close the pay gap? Let us know your thoughts by Tweeting #ELLEfeminism @ELLEUK. ELLE's Feminism issue is on shelves now.
