‘48% of teenage girls would not work for employer with gender pay gap’

Forty-eight per cent of girls aged between 16 and 18 would not consider working for an organisation that has a gender pay gap, according to a survey by jobs site Indeed.

Among boys of the same age, only 32% said pay equality would drive their choice of employer.

The survey of 2,000 teenagers found that 55% of girls research a potential employer’s stance on the gender pay gap, compared with 34% of boys.

Among workers aged 19 to 65, 31% of men and 41% of women look into possible wage discrepancies.

Just 5% of teenagers are “hopeful” of closing the gender pay gap with nearly two thirds (61%) saying it is “unfair”. A quarter of respondents find it “unsurprising”, suggesting that perceptions of unequal pay could be baked in by the time young people start working full time.

The survey also shows a gender difference among young people when it comes to asking for pay rises in future. While 61% of male teenagers say they would feel confident asking for a raise at a future workplace, just 46% of girls say they would feel confident.

When it comes to older workers, on average, women think that the gender pay gap is higher (16%) than men (12%). When it comes to equal pay, three in five (61%) women believe they are being paid the same as a man, or more, for doing the same work, compared to 34% of men who believe the same about women.  Greater salary transparency is seen as one way of levelling up pay but Indeed analysis of postings on its platform found 46% of roles advertise pay and that the level of openness varied depending on the type of job.

More than two thirds (69%) of both males and females said having children, getting married or being away from work for an extended period would harm their earning prospects.

Deepa Somasundari, Indeed’s senior director of ESG strategic initiatives, said: “Encouragingly, many workers seem tired of the status quo and our survey suggests that young people are willing to pick up the mantle on workplace equity and nudge employers into rethinking unfair or opaque pay.”

Sophi Berridge, Senior Campaigns Officer at The Equality Trust added: “Our work with young people for our Employment Rights School Resources research project demonstrated that pay injustice is an increasingly important determinant for young people when considering which roles to apply for in the labour market.

“Canny employers should bear in mind that if they want to attract a diverse pool of talent, they should scrutinise their policies and practices for examples of pay inequality and address them.”

The research was published ahead of November 18th’s Equal Pay Day – the day identified by the Fawcett Society when the average UK woman “stops earning” compared with men.

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