§ Lord Lester of Herne Hillasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they accept the broad accuracy of the information contained in the EC Commission's Memorandum on Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value (COM(94)6 Final) showing that the pay differential between men and women is significantly wider in the United Kingdom than in the great majority of the other member states of the European Union (apart from Ireland and Luxembourg); and if not, why not.
§ Lord InglewoodData in respect of the UK in the table on page 5 of the European Commission's Memorandum are misleading because they exclude women's earnings from the relatively more highly paid service sector, in which 50 per cent. of women in manual work and 85 per cent. of women in non-manual work are employed.
The New Earnings Survey, published by the Employment Department, is the most reliable guide to the pay differential between men and women. In April 1994, the most recent date for which figures are available, women's average hourly earnings, excluding overtime, were 79.5 per cent. of men's. This is the highest ever figure. The pay differential has narrowed in six out of the last seven years. Since 1979, women's earnings have increased faster than men's.
§ Lord Lester of Herne Hillasked Her Majesty's Government:
What they consider to be the main causes of the continuing and substantial pay differentials between men and women in the United Kingdom, referred to in the EC Commission's Memorandum on Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value (COM(94)6 Final).
§ Lord InglewoodRecent research for the Employment Department suggests that the main cause of the remaining pay differential between men and women is job segregation. Other factors include: levels of skill and experience; job characteristics; family commitments and a residual element of sex discrimination.
§ Lord Lester of Herne Hillasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they intend to introduce any legislative or administrative measures to reduce the continuing and substantial pay differential between men and women in the United Kingdom; and, if not, why not.
§ Lord InglewoodThe pay differential between men and women is reducing, and has done so for six of the last seven years. It now stands at its lowest ever level. The Government believe that this welcome trend has been helped by policies which have created a sound economic framework in which enterprise is encouraged and individual initiative allowed to flourish.
92WAIn addition, the Government have taken and will continue to take a range of measures which should help women's pay and employment prospects. These include: changes to the Equal Pay Act and Sex Discrimination Act; adoption of the National Curriculum; reforms to make the Careers Service more effective; a range of programmes run through Training and Enterprise Councils, and acceptance of recommendations of an independent Committee on Women in Science and Technology, which advised on ways in which the potential, skills and expertise of women could best be secured for the national advantage.