Equal Pay Day

This Autumn, we celebrate International Equal Pay Day (18th September) and the UK’s Gender Pay Gap Day (probably around the 22nd November).

“Celebrate” is probably the wrong term for it, with the United Nations telling us that “Across all regions, women are paid less than men, with the gender pay gap estimated at around 20 per cent globally.”

Out of 146 countries, the UK ranked 15th in a 2023 World Economic Forum comparison, up there with the best and trailing just behind Iceland, Namibia, New Zealand and Rwanda, amongst others.

Fifteenth out of 146 sounds great but… it’s not that great.  The UK still has a gender pay gap across all industries of 14.3% meaning that women are paid (on average) 86p for every £1 that men are paid.

In the education sector, it’s even worse, with the gender pay gap standing at 18.1%.  Some multi-academy trusts (we won’t name them) fare terribly, with gender pay gaps of up to 44.6%.  Why not enjoy the government’s brilliant Search and Compare tool that lays the facts bare in a simple click to satiate your curiosity?

While the graphs in ASCL et al.’s updated 2023 report indicate that a slight gender pay gap exists at almost all levels (female classroom teachers actually slightly outearn male classroom teachers), a seismic shift happens between the ages of 30-39, particularly between 35-39 when – you guessed right – teachers are most likely to become mothers.

57% of female teachers aged 30-34 are mothers, jumping to 77% for women aged 35-39.  During this time, the gender pay gap increases by between £846 (“other leadership”) to £2,131 (headteachers) per year.  Classroom teachers – previously outearning their male counterparts by £143 per year – suddenly suffer a wage gap of £1,253.

The explanation: of course, it is the motherhood penalty in action.  Studies largely agree that “women’s inability to combine work with family seems to account for the lion’s share of the pay gap” and in Missing Mothers – a report co-authored by The MTPT Project and The New Britain Project – we explain how this impact is being felt in teaching.  

Motherhood means that we are losing experienced teachers in droves; they are paid less when they remain in the profession, and are underrepresented at leadership level.

Solving the gender pay gap in any industry is complicated.  The same goes for what we like to term more precisely, the “fiscal motherhood penalty in education”.  But the Missing Mothers report lays out one simple recommendation to government: shift the investment currently focused on recruitment, to retention.

Specifically, focus on retaining and improving working conditions for women aged 30-39 by addressing and reducing the motherhood penalty.

Want to do more this autumn to reduce the impact of the motherhood penalty in education?  Book in a 30 minute call with Emma at The MTPT Project between 18th September – 22nd November.  She’ll share more about why the motherhood penalty exists and the right questions to ask, and strategies to implement to make a real difference in your organisation.  The fun gimmick?  She’ll charge you the rate of your organisation’s pay gap for the consultation session.