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Equal pay for women managers not until 2195, survey suggests

John Carvel, social affairs editor

The Guardian, Friday September 19 2008

Women managers will have to wait 187 years to achieve equal pay with men at current rates
of progress towards closing the earnings gap, the Chartered Management Institute said
yesterday.

Its annual salary survey showed the average woman in British management earned £32,614 in
the 12 months to March, compared with £46,269 for their male counterparts.

The survey of more than 40,000 managers at all grades from trainee to director found
women's pay increased by 6.8% over the year, compared with 6.6% for the men. The institute
said: "At the current level of annual pay increases, this means it will not be until 2195 before
female pay outstrips men." It would take even longer for women to achieve equal pay in the
IT sector and, on current trends, female managers at board level in Scotland would not gain
parity until 2366.

The highest paid managers were men in London, who averaged £67,256. The lowest paid
were women in Wales, who averaged £27,115.

Jo Causon, the institute's marketing director, said: "At least with a glass ceiling it is possible
to see through to the next level. However, when it comes to equal pay, it seems that the glass
is now opaque. To have to wait several generations is inexcusable and it is time that the lip
service of the three decades since sex discrimination was first outlawed is transformed into
action."

The survey found the biggest gender pay gap was in the insurance industry, where male
managers earned 45.2% more than women. The gap was smallest in the pharmaceutical
industry (14.9%).