Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has declared she wants to end the gender pay gap once and for all. If Labour is elected, she said, firms would be required to publish action plans, increase the number of female executives and improve flexibility in the workplace.
These initiatives would be both necessary and welcome. Reeves may become the UK’s first female chancellor and finally closing the gender pay gap would be a historic achievement – boosting women’s earnings by as much as £55 billion a year. But is her plan bold enough to deliver on its promise? My research on the huge gender pay gap in the finance sector and exploring measures being taken in other countries suggests she may need to go further.
UK employers have been required to publish information about their gender pay gaps since 2017. The gender pay reporting regulations oblige firms with 250 employees or more to make public six calculations of their gender pay gaps on an annual basis.
