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On 9 April 2009, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) published a report (Employment and earnings in the finance sector: a gender analysis) which reveals significant gender pay gaps in the finance sector of up to 60%.
The report is based on a preliminary analysis of representative national datasets, together with a short literature review of the finance industry in the UK.
Its findings show that amongst the highest earners, the gender pay gap for full-time hourly gross earnings is 45%, while women working full-time in the lowest paid roles in the sector receive on average 16% less in hourly gross pay than their male colleagues.
Women working full-time in areas such as fund management, stock broking and futures trading suffer the largest pay gap in the financial services sector, earning on average 60% less annual gross salary than men - a pay gap more than twice the national average.
In the financial services sector as a whole, female full-time employees receive 55% less annual gross pay and 39% less hourly gross pay than men. These pay gaps are also approximately double the pay gap figures for the economy as a whole. Evidence suggests that 70% of men in the sector earned more than £29,400 in 2007/8, while 70% of women earned less than £29,500.
The report also points to a 79% gender pay gap for annual incentive pay (which includes bonuses) for full-time workers in the finance sector.