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Equal Pay Day falls on same day for third consecutive day

EQUAL pay day today has fallen on the same date for the third consecutive year as the Conservative government does little to close the gap.

On Equal Pay Day women effectively start working for free for the rest of the year because of the pay difference between them and men.

However this day has fallen on November 10 for the past three years in a row in a glaring indictment of government negligence on equal pay.

Shadow women and equalities secretary Dawn Butler said: “The fact that Equal Pay Day has fallen on the same date for three consecutive years shows we still have a very long way to go in the fight for equality.

“This Conservative government has failed to tackle the underlying structural issues that result in women being paid less than men.

“It’s time to close the gender pay gap so that one day there will not be an Equal Pay Day.

“To address these deep-rooted inequalities, we need action from government, not just audits.

“The next Labour government will require all large employers to prove exactly how they plan to tackle their gender pay gaps. We must end the scourge of unequal pay once and for all.”

Calls for more action to tackle the gender pay gap are intensifying amid new research showing that women are more likely to be in low-paid jobs and be paid less than men in comparable roles.

Living Wage Foundation director Tess Lanning said that more than one in four jobs filled by women pay below the voluntary living wage, compared with fewer than one in five for men.

Oxford University staff will protest against the gender pay gap on Monday by taking part in an “unpaid women’s non-working lunch.”

The lunch, organised by the local branch of the University and College Union, will take place outside the Clarendon building at the corner of Broad Street and Catte Street from 12:30pm.
 
The university has an average gender pay gap of 13.7 per cent, which means that women at the university are effectively unpaid for the rest of the year from Monday.

One of the reasons cited for gender pay gaps is fewer women in top positions.

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