Changes

Two landmark court cases, Schultz v. Wheaton Glass Co. (1970), U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and Corning Glass Works v. Brennan (1974), U.S. Supreme Court tightened and refined the language of the act.  

Two landmark court cases, Schultz v. Wheaton Glass Co. (1970), U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and Corning Glass Works v. Brennan (1974), U.S. Supreme Court tightened and refined the language of the act.  

In 1963, average wages for women were about 59% of the wages paid to men. It was 81% in 2005.<ref>http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat39.pdf</ref> Various explanations have been given, such as men holding higher-skilled jobs and working longer hours.

In 1963, average wages for women were about 59% of the wages paid to men. In the UK, the gender pay gap derived from median hourly earnings (excluding overtime) in 2006 was 12.6 per cent using the median and 17.2 per cent using the mean. This means that women who work full time are paid on average 87.4 per cent of men's hourly earnings using the median and 82.8 per cent using the mean.  The full-time gender pay gap decreased by 0.4 percentage points in 2006 using the median but increased by 0.1 percentage points using the mean. This was due to a higher growth in the earnings of men working full-time in the top decile. Because the mean can be distorted by a small number of high earners, who are predominantly men, the Office of National Statistics in the UK now recommends measuring the gender pay gap using the median value.

 

he part-time gender pay gap declined from 40.4 in April 2005 to 40.21 per cent in April 2006 using the median.  Using the mean, the part-time gender pay gap was the same as it was in 2005.<ref>http://www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk/pay/govt_action.htm</ref> . American figures are slightly different. <ref>http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat39.pdf</ref>  

 

 

<blockquote>''The causes of the gender pay gap are complex and reflect to some extent current and historical choices.  Key factors include: human capital differences: i.e. differences in educational levels and work experience; part-time working; travel patterns and occupational segregation.  Other factors include: job grading practices, appraisal systems, and pay discrimination...Occupation segregation is one of the main causes of the gender pay gap.  Women's employment is highly concentrated in certain occupations and those occupations which are female-dominated are often the lowest paid. In addition, women are still under-represented in the higher paid jobs within occupations - the "glass ceiling" effect.'' <ref>http://www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk/pay/govt_action.htm</ref> </blockquote>

==Gender Equality duty 2007==

==Gender Equality duty 2007==