Let’s talk about the wage gap between men and women. This has been in the news a lot recently and the UK is serial offender when it comes to not paying women and men the same amount for the same job.
From what I gather, the gender pay gap is the percentage difference between average hourly earnings for men and women.
Before the recent media coverage on this, I thought it was an issue from 10 years ago but turns out it as a problem it is very current. Stats from the Office for National Statistics show that across the UK, men earned 18.4% more than women in April 2017.
So something is being done about this because next week, about 9,000 firms will have to calculate their gender pay gap and publish it on a government website by 4 April 2018, or 30 March for the public sector.
The more I read about the gender pay gap the more ludicrous unequal pay seems. There has been a Norwegian video circulating on social media which I think illustrates this really well. I may be sharing it again but definitely watch it!
When I started to look into the nuts and bolts of why men and women are paid differently, I came across so many articles and examples where the reason was that women did not negotiate their salary.
This surprised me but when I reflected I remembered that in my working life I have only negotiated a salary once. It’s true, I have more of my working life ahead of me than behind me, but for whatever reason I did not think to negotiate.
Some of the explanations I read said that in general women are taught not to advocate for themselves in the work place. Other viewpoints mentioned the fact that as women we tend to underestimate our professional impact. These are sweeping generalisations for sure but my biggest takeaway was I should always negotiate.
I wondered why when jobs are advertised there is a pay scale – I know it is often down to experience but my eyes have been opened. This is also a cue to negotiate. – always negotiate. This week a friend was offered a new job with a salary at the bottom end of their advertised scale. She was surprised to get this offer as she expected more.
When we talked about it some more I encouraged her to negotiate. She did and now because she asked, has improved her offer. Speaking to her throughout this experience has reinforced the lesson I am learning – negotiate, always negotiate.
My negotiating skills when it comes to jobs and salaries need some work, no doubt. But what I am grateful for, is the fact that I can learn this lesson now.
I’m choosing to see negotiating the salary for my next job role, as a way I can challenge the gender pay gap in practical way and be a part of changing the statics for the better.
Feminist Friday Says #FFS 