Four in 10 people not aware that women have a right to equal pay, study finds

New legislation strives to ‘modernise’ pay laws, writes Maya Oppenheim

The report found only a third of people know women possess the legal right to probe male co-workers about how much money they earn if they suspect they are suffering pay discrimination (Getty/iStock)

Four in 10 people are not aware that women have a right to equal pay while only a quarter of women say their workplace is open about the issue of wages, a new study has found.

The research, carried out by the Fawcett Society, found only a third of people know women possess the legal right to probe male co-workers about how much money they earn if they suspect they are suffering pay discrimination.

Equal pay law in the UK is “not fit for purpose” and there is a grave ignorance among a “shocking amount” of people towards issues of equal pay, the women’s rights organisation warned.

The society, which polled around 2,000 people, is proposing a new piece of legislation that is being launched in parliament on Wednesday which strives to “modernise” equal pay laws.

Women who think they are not receiving equal pay would have the “Right to Know” what a male equivalent colleague is earning under the bill, enabling women to deal with equal pay disputes without being dragged through court.

Sam Smethers, Fawcett Society chief executive, said: “Fifty years on from the Equal Pay Act the law designed to address pay discrimination is still poorly understood and too often ignored. Not only are many women still paid less than men for the same job, four in 10 don’t even realise they have a right to equal pay for work of equal value.

“The culture of secrecy that discourages women from talking about salaries has allowed pay discrimination to persist. Women do not have the information they need to challenge this injustice.

“Our new Equal Pay Bill would give women who are not being paid equally a route to get the information they need. Our research shows that eight in 10 men and women support women being able to find out if they are paid less than a man for equal work.”

The new legislation would boost transparency by bringing in gender pay gap reporting by ethnicity.

Baroness Margaret Prosser, who put the bill forward in the House of Lords, said: “Having seen the working women’s campaign for equal pay lead to victory with the Equal Pay Act 1970, I wouldn’t have dreamt that, in 2020, women would still be facing pay discrimination. But that is indeed what is still happening across the country, including at major institutions like the BBC, our councils and supermarkets.

“This new bill is vital for stopping pay discrimination – so that we are not still talking about this in another 50 years. Current rights just don’t work without transparency. I call on parliamentarians in both Houses to support the proposals in this bill – it’s time to make the right to equal pay a reality for all women.”