Just days after new data from the ABS confirmed the gender pay gap is widening news out of the UK shows the gender pay gap across the pond is growing too. The pay gap there is accumulating as women earn almost half as much as men in bonuses.
Research compiled by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) shows that over the past year British male managers received a bonus payout almost double that of their female counterparts, with the gap between bonuses only growing as staff progress to executive levels.
British men already take home an average wage that is 25% more than women, the average bonus for men totaled 6,442 pounds ($11,106) compared to 3,029 ($5,222) pounds for women for doing the same job.
Once a man reaches director levels, he can expect a bonus of 63,700 pounds ($109,823), nearly double that of the 36,270 ($62,532) pound bonus a female director receives.
According to the report men are also more likely to receive a bonus in the first place. While 52% of male directors took home a bonus last year, only 42% of women were handed extra cash.
In a statement to The Telegraph CMI CEO Ann Francke said it was time for workplaces to take a more systematic approach to gender diversity and equity.
“Despite genuine efforts to get more women onto boards, it’s disappointing to find that not only has progress stalled, but women are also losing ground at senior levels,” she said. “Women are the majority of the workforce at entry level but still lose out on top positions and top pay. The time has come to tackle this situation more systemically.”
The research, based on the responses of 43,200 managers and directors also shows that the ‘lifetime earning gap’ – the difference in bonuses over an entire career – which sits at almost 141,500 pounds ($243,956).
Mark Crail of human resources company XpertHR, which was also involved in the research, said the pay gap could be partly explained by the different career paths taken with “traditional male roles more likely to attract bonuses”.
“While women are generally getting lower bonuses than men, especially at senior levels, they may be entering occupations where there is less of a culture of bonus payments,” he said.