Drop in pay gap

Commenting on the annual pay figures published on Wednesday 8 December  by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:  ''The fall in the full-time gender pay gap up to April 2010 is welcome news for working women across the UK.'

'The government has inherited a gender pay gap at a record low, the challenge it faces now is to continue this progress and eliminate it altogether.'But with hundreds of thousands of female public servants set to lose their jobs, there are real fears that women's income could start to fall as they struggle to find work in the private sector, where the gender pay gap is twice as high. 'And while the full-time pay gap is falling, the part-time gender pay gap is still shockingly big at around 35 per cent. 'Women looking for part-time work in the private sector will be shocked to learn that average pay is just a pound above the minimum wage.'

Statistical highlights from the Ashe report 2010

Weekly earnings :

Men’s median full-time weekly earnings increased by 1.3 per cent to £538 in the year to April 2010, compared with growth of 3.1 per cent for women to £439

Part-time median weekly earnings were £154, up by 0.7 per cent. For women, part-time median weekly earnings were £157, compared with £142 for men.

Fulltime earnings

For men, full-time earnings were £538, up 1.3 per cent, compared with £439 for women, up 3.1 per cent.