Part time workers bear the brunt of gender pay gap

Research has revealed those in part-time work are most likely to suffer from the gender ‘pay penalty’ with women disproportionately affected as a result of making up the vast majority of part–time workers in the UK.

According to research from the Institute for Fiscal studies, women working part–time will on average receive 30% less pay than their male counterparts, with a similar level of education.
The research also highlighted a ‘striking’ issue with part-time workers typically missing out on promotion opportunities. Mothers of young children were most affected by the contrast in pay, representing a high proportion of part–time workers. Mothers were therefore least likely to hold positions of seniority within their organisations, and thus as it appears overlooked by their employers in terms of career progression.

“It is remarkable that periods spent in part-time work lead to virtually no wage progression. It should be a priority for governments and others to understand the reasons for this. Addressing it would have the potential to narrow the gender wage gap significantly” commented Monica Costa Dias; Author of the report.

An increase in the number of quality jobs offered to part-time workers was hailed as one solution, however, Helen Barnard, head of analysis at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has suggested we need to change the way in which we view part-time workers all together, signifying those part-time staff are often viewed as less valuable to organisations.

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