Getting a fix on pay gap

The global debate on pay gap is widening across shores and raising its head to spark change. In almost all cultures- no matter how developed, there is a sort of occupational-segregation and there is new effort every day to fix that.  In this past century, with blurring lines in terms of gender divide, women have excelled at what may have traditionally been defined as “male” jobs like architecture and science and men have excelled at jobs that were otherwise seen as feminine, like cooking and fashion designing. But has some of this helped in changing pay gaps? Can it?

According to the Independent UK, this gap could be reduced if women were encouraged to take up apprenticeships for “non-traditional” jobs.  It suggests that if women join as apprentices at jobs that are otherwise seen as a ‘man’s job,’ it would help them with better pay in the unrepresented sector.

A research by Demos has revealed that due to the traditional gender divide in professions, the existing pay gap between men and women has reached £84000. According to recent statistics, 83% of apprenticeships held in health and social sectors were taken up by women. 91% in childcare and 93% hairdressing were too female dominated workplaces. On the other hand, jobs like construction, engineering, IT and telecoms have only 2%, 3% and 10% women respectively.

Due to stuck up career roles, on an average, the amount of money generated by men in “male centered jobs” is much more than the amount generated by women in “female-centered jobs.” For every £ 29,600 made by men, women just make £ 21,200 in an year.

Jonathan Todd, a researcher with Demos researcher, told ‘The Independent’ that, “The UK economy struggles with high youth unemployment and low productivity. While increasing high quality apprentices would address these problems, this response will be less effective than it might be so long as outdated perceptions of work roles limit apprenticeship horizons.”

ORIGINAL SOURCE: The Independent UK

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/putting-more-women-in-male-apprenticeships-could-bridge-the-gender-pay-gap-9616928.html