Less than half of the UK’s biggest employers have narrowed their gender pay gap, with men still earning up to 20 percent more than their female counterparts.

All organisations, with over 250 employees in the public sector, were required to publish pay gap data by March 31, while private companies and charities had until April 4.

Out of the 9,961 companies that published this data, 7,755 paid males more than female staff, proving that eight in 10 companies pay males more.

Based on median wage data, over a quarter of businesses pay women over 20 percent less than men, and over a third of companies had gaps that were worse than the national average, with the highest gap being 21p to £1.

However, 14 percent of companies, made up of a majority of female employees, had a wage gap favoring women.

Since 2017, businesses have been required to publish wage data, which is monitored by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, and although the wage gap made extremely minor progress, from 9.7 to 9.6 percent, UK governments are calling for greater recognition and action to close the gap.

However, UK companies have been hiring more women to entry-level positions, which could contribute to the lack of change in the gap.

Data also shows that the fields where the pay gap between males and females is the largest are in construction, finance, mining, education, and communications.

The Fawcett Society, a woman’s rights group, is calling for the implementation of a five-year strategy that will hold companies accountable in closing the gender pay gap, with penalties for those who do not comply.

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

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