Around 2 in 5 employed women and 1 in 10 employed men are part-time.

What is the pay gap?

It is now over thirty years since the Equal Pay Act came into force, but there is still a massive inequality between men’s and women’s pay.

There is a 15%* gap between men’s and women’s full-time hourly rates, and a shocking 35% gap when you compare women’s part time hourly rate to men’s full time hourly rate.

These headline figures represent a lifetime of pay discrimination for women. This discrimination is a contributing factor to women and children’s higher levels of poverty and women’s pensioner poverty. It also impacts on household earnings and on men’s earnings when they work in sectors or occupations with high levels of female workers.

The pay gap is bad for business, and bad for Scotland’s economy. Companies that treat staff fairly are more productive, more innovative, find it easier to retain skilled staff, and ensure that they have a positive corporate image.

* Dec 2007 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings