Women Paid Less Than Men

A landmark investigation into why women lag badly behind men in pay has called for a change of culture in schools and workplaces.

The Women and Work Commission concluded that the gender pay gap is worse in Britain than anywhere in Europe.

It found that women in full-time work were earning 17% less than men.

Among its 40 recommendations, the Commission said there should be more government support and improved vocational training.

One member of the Commission, John Cridland of the CBI, said the UK's culture was to blame for women being paid less.

"It is because of structural problems; because of young girls' choices in schools and the fact that our careers education system completely fails to make them realise that the choices they make will determine what they earn".

Job segregation

The Commission believes girls should be encouraged to think about non-traditional jobs as well as apprenticeships for women, especially in sectors with skill shortages.

In its Shaping a Fairer Future report, the government-established Commission said those with child care responsibilities are often forced to take part-time employment below their skill level where the problem is even worse.

The report said that many women are in low-paid work such as cleaning and caring and it calculated that ending job segregation would benefit the economy by as much as £23bn.

The Commission's chairwoman, Margaret Prosser, called the situation an outrage.

"Many women are working day-in, day-out far below their abilities," she said.

"If we do not make the fundamental change necessary to our school and workplace cultures, new jobs and opportunities will be filled in the same old way and women will continue to lose out."

'Missed the point'

But unions criticised the report for failing to recommend compulsory pay reviews to ensure women are not being paid less than their male counterparts.

Derek Simpson, general secretary of Amicus, said the report had "deliberately missed the point," adding that without compulsory pay audits, women will have to wait until "Doomsday" to earn the same as men.

Katherine Rake, from the Fawcett Society - an organisation which campaigns for equality for women - said that widespread discrimination was a major contributor to the pay gap.

"The Equal Opportunities Commission came out recently saying that 30,000 women a year are dismissed simply because they are pregnant," she told the BBC.

"There is widespread discrimination within the system and there's plenty of research to back that up" she added.

But Mr Cridland denied that employers were to blame.

"Absolutely not, we didn't find that at all," he said.

"15 Commissioners from all walks of society - the voluntary sector, the public sector, trade unions, employers - spent 18 months looking at the problem and they concluded that employer discrimination was neither the problem, and equal pay audits were not the solution."

The Commission was set up by Tony Blair in 2004 to examine womens' experiences in the workplace and barriers affecting career progression.