2010.08.1905:53:00UTC+00Equal Pay For U.K. Women 'Still 57 Years Away'

U.K. businesses are still more than five decades away from paying men and women equally, new research has found.

The Chartered Management Institute and XpertHR said on Thursday that salaries paid to females increased by 2.8% over the last year, compared to a 2.3% rise for men. However, the average salary for a male manager is still GBP 10,071 more than that of a female manager.

The institute said that at the current rates of growth, women face a 57-year wait before their take-home pay is equal to that of their male colleagues. The study, conducted among 200 businesses across Britain, found that male salary exceeds female salary by 24% at the senior level.

"Girls born this year will face the probability of working for around 40 years in the shadow of unequal pay. The prospect of continued decades of pay inequality cannot be allowed to become reality," said Petra Wilson, CMI's head of policy.

"We want to see the government take greater steps to enforce pay equality by monitoring organizations more closely and naming and shaming those who fail to pay male and female staff fairly.

"Managers and employers need to recruit from a wide talent pool but they cannot expect to attract the U.K.'s best female talent if they continue to undervalue it."

Sandra Pollock of the CMI's Women in Management network said: "Four decades have passed since the Equal Pay Act became law, when the pay gap stood at 34% across the board. In many ways, things have progressed, but the fact that such a significant gap still exists means the U.K. still has some way to go.

"We want to inspire young women to reach the top but how can we possibly expect them to want the top jobs if, despite doing the same role as male colleagues, they will be paid less?"

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