Scots pay gap narrows … but after 40 years it's still slow going

The average earning per hour among men in Scotland was 14.72 in 2009, compared to 12.35 among women.

The Scottish Government said the gap had narrowed among full-time employees, from 13.1 per cent in 2008, to 12.2 per cent last year.

The authors of the General Equality Scheme annual report said: "Although much progress has been made in the 40 years since the introduction of equal pay and sex discrimination legislation, there is still an unacceptable pay gap between women and men."

It added: "The fact that there continues to be a pay gap at all indicates real discrimination and disadvantage."

The report cites sex discrimination, a lack of quality part-time jobs and poor childcare provision among the reasons that such a large gap still exists.

The Scottish Government which launched Close the Gap – along with Equality and Human Rights Commission Scotland (EHRCS), Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Skills Development Scotland, and the Scottish Trades Union Congress – is determined to end the discrepancy.

The programme will run until March next year and will see public bodies with the equivalent of more than 150 full-time employees, submit equal pay reports for the first time in September.

EHRCS director Ros Micklem said: "Although it's encouraging that the pay gap between men and women is closing, it is nevertheless very slow progress.

"The reasons for the pay gap are many and complex, from working mothers being passed over for promotion to unbalanced bonus schemes.

"The commission believes one important step is to develop ways for employers to measure and report on their gender pay gap.

"By understanding that they have a gender pay gap problem, companies can start to take steps to address it.

"We also know that adopting flexible approaches to work can make a big difference in helping to close the gap.

"And, of course, it makes good business sense to be rewarding talented staff on merit and results rather than gender."

The EHRC has highlighted other gender pay discrepancies, most recently that women working in UK finance receive on average 80 per less in bonuses than male counterparts – 2,875 compared 14,554.

They say this is partly due to men being more willing to work overtime, as in modern families women still take greater responsibility for looking after children and the home.

CBI Scotland director Iain McMillan said: "Great strides have been made in recent years in closing the equality gap.

"In the vast majority of cases, men and women are paid the same for equal work.

"Much of the gap now exists because of factors such as women leaving to have children.

"Women might leave work for a number of years to bring up families – these choices that people have are one of the big contributors to inequality in equal pay."

SPLIT HANGOVER

GETTING over a divorce takes an average of 17 months and 26 days, according to a new report yesterday.

Researchers have discovered that the average divorcee feels ready to move on almost a year-and-a-half after final divorce papers have been issued.

The survey of 4,000 divorcees found that it took this long to resolve contentious issues such as child custody, property problems and money worries.

Of those polled, 60 per cent said that the worst thing to come to terms with was the sense of failure after a divorce, while 20 per cent said the initial feeling of loss was the harder to deal with than the practical implications of divorce.

The research was carried out by an internet dating site.