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Campaigners at The Fawcett Society in the U.K. have deemed Thursday equal pay day, or EPD, claiming that the 13.9 percent pay gap will take 60 years to close at the current rate.
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International Women's Day
“A root cause of the gender pay gap is that we don’t value the work done by women. As we mark EPD this year, we are focusing on the fundamental question of who and what we value and asking why it is that we don’t value women and the work they do — paid or unpaid,” said the society’s chief executive, Sam Smethers.
“Equal value goes to the heart of the fight for pay equality, because the reality is that if it is a sector dominated by women the pay will be lower. As we look ahead to a U.K. outside the EU and possibly the single market, we have to guard against the risk of going backwards and losing some of the rights that women have fought for over many years.”
Men are also being encouraged to join the movement for pay parity, more so if they have jobs in areas traditionally dominated by women.
“After more than 40 years since the enactment of legislation banning sex discrimination at work and in pay, it is shameful that women continue to face barriers that hold them back. We simply cannot ignore the scale of the disadvantages that working women face,” said Rebecca Hilsenrath, chief executive of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
“Girls and women outperform men at every stage in education, but time after time this success is not translated into rewards at work. Women are a vital part of the workforce and any proposals to tackle the gender pay gap must be strong enough to deliver the change everyone wants to see.”
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