Women working in the energy sector in the UK are 10% worse off than their female counterparts in other industries.
According to new government figures from the Office of National Statistics, the national gender pay gap between men and women in industry is 18.1% – the lowest on record.
But for women working in the energy sector, they are paid on average 28.1% less than men doing comparable jobs.
Even more alarming, the UK average gender pay gap in 1997 – when ONS statistics began – 27.5%.
This means that women in Britain’s energy industries are even worse off compared to male incomes than they were nearly 20 years ago.
Justine Greening, the Minister for Women, said: “The benefits of helping women to unlock their talents are huge – tackling the UK gender gap could add £150 billion to our annual GDP in 2025. That’s an opportunity that neither Government nor businesses can afford to ignore.”
To further help eliminate the gender pay gap, the government is introducing requirements for all employers with more than 250 members of staff to publish their gender pay and gender bonus pay gaps for the first time ever from April next year;
And it is working with business to have 33% of women on boards by 2020 and eliminate all-male boards in the FTSE-350 companies.
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