SCOTS women will earn £250,000 less than men over the course of their working lives, it has been revealed.
The gender pay gap was revealed after a detailed analysis of the difference in hourly and weekly pay between men and women.
Across Scotland the average weekly full-time pay, excluding overtime, stands at £620.50 for men and £524.90 for women – a difference of 15%.
In the skilled trade professions there was a 26% difference in pay between the genders, whilst male managers and senior officials earned £971.50 a week to women’s £750.60 – a 23% pay gap.
The new analysis of Scotland’s gender pay imbalance comes from Close the Gap, a group which works with the government to address equal pay.
It comes as the prime minister continues with plans to require large companies to release data on the gender pay gap – to pressure them into eliminating it “within a generation.”
And last week research published by the Law Society of Scotland showed that women in the nation’s legal profession were being paid significantly less than their male counterparts.
Their data showed that the average salary for women in the profession was 42% lower that the earnings of men, with an average difference of £32,650 between male and female salaries every year.
The news added further weight to the warning made by think tank Fiscal Affairs Scotland, which recently claimed that the gender pay gap is far worse north of the border.
The Close the Gap report claims that a “motherhood penalty” may largely be to blame for the disparity in pay.
They say that women returning to the workplace after having children may find it more and more difficult to find positions which allow them to meet their parenting responsibilities.
For many, they say, the only option is part-time work, which is characterised by significantly lower pay.
Anna Ritchie Allan, project manager of Close the Gap, said: “It is not only women who have been affected by the pay gap: employers are also missing out on the abundance of female talent as huge numbers of qualified and experienced women are working in jobs below their skill level.
“Companies have to look at the ways in which their workplace culture impacts on male and female employees differently, and then charge their practices to ensure that women are not disadvantaged.
“Until that’s done it’s difficult to see how the pay gap will end in a generation.”
