Although the gender pay gap data published today is capturing data during the pandemic, it is important to be cautious in interpretation as many furloughed employees may not be captured. This could be a significant number given that a total of 11.6 million jobs have been on furlough for at least part of the duration of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). The numbers will include women who have requested furlough due to childcare issues, particularly during school and nursery closures. We'll be sharing insights and analysis as more detailed data breakdowns become available later this month. But it will be important to track figures over the years ahead to get a more accurate reflection of the impact of the pandemic.

Following a suspended enforcement of compulsory reporting for the 2019/2020 year, the publication of 2021 Gender pay gap data is important in providing an opportunity to mark differences pre and post pandemic with the last publication of pay gap data in March 2020 just as the UK entered a period of lockdown. The gender pay gap stands at 13% -Financial Times analysis of pay gap reports indicates women were paid 87p for every £1 paid to men in April 2020.

Where we have seen a narrowing of the gender pay gap in previous years among all employees from 17.4% in 2019, to 15.5% in 2020, analysis by the Financial Times (Thomas et al., 2021) of data submitted by the 5^th October 2021 deadline indicates a widening gender pay gap across multiple sectors (Thomas et al., 2021). Their analysis illustrates that while men continue to be paid more across all sectors, a widening gap is more prevalent in education, finance and insurance and energy sectors. Previous data has also indicated a worsening gap in senior roles. Gender pay gap submissions from businesses this year suggest this trend persists signalling a status gap, with the persistent overall dominance of men in executive and leadership roles.

Research by Lancaster University tracking prevalent gender challenges for organisations, indicated that a key reason is a persistent gap between organisations’ policy development to tackle gender inequality and everyday practices at work that are influenced by social norms. While organisations assume a neutral playing field that enables men and women equally to take advantage of policies such as parental leave, in practice women are likely to take on the burden of parental care which is not conducive to long hours culture of many professional roles. This is not only due to social expectations of women as carers and men as breadwinners, but compounded by career and financial reasons, with men often in higher paid and higher status roles. This maintains a cycle of inequality. The impact of Covid 19, where families had limited access to care and the disruption of education has compromised women’s employment prospects and career progression (Devine & Foley, 2020), for women who continued in employment and those who were furloughed. The resilience of the gender pay gap especially at more senior levels is therefore unsurprising.

The pandemic has given employers the opportunity to understand better how our current ways of working including where we work can exacerbate inequalities. Working from home has underscored both the value of flexibility and remote working and also illuminated how different forms of working can prove more or less advantageous for their employees. Research by the Work Foundation shows the importance post- pandemic for employers to rethink working practices. Their findings show the need to help employees manage their work-life balance and potentially co-develop an organisational “right to disconnect” policy. Developed through consultation with staff and worker representatives, an internal policy would aim to establish a shared approach to work communications that supports workers to fully disengage from work outside of core hours and while on leave.

They also highlight the importance of looking beyond remote and hybrid work to offer wider forms of flexibility. Government has announced plans to make right to request flexible work available to employees on starting a role. In anticipation of that, employers should identify different models of flexible working for roles and proactively communicate flexible working options to all staff.

Valerie Stead is a Professor in Leadership and Management at Lancaster University Management School. She leads the Gender Matters research project in partnership with the Work Foundation.

Devine, B.F. & Foley, N. (2020) Women and the Economy. Briefing Paper Number CP06838 4 March 2020 House of Commons Library

Thomas, D., Elliott, O. & Clark, D. (2021) UK gender pay gap widens despite pressure on business to improve. Financial Times

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