The Gender Pay Gap Throughout History

By Charlotte Fox

In 1919, the ‘Sex Disqualification Removal Act’ was first introduced in Britain, which allowed women to do the same jobs as men, such as lawyers and civil servants. Although the women were doing exactly the same work as the men, their salary was remarkably lower. This is still a problem in today’s world, even though much has been done in efforts to close the gender pay gap.

For example, there have been many protests demanding equal pay for both genders throughout history. The first strike, in 1968, became known as the Ford Dagenham strike, in which 187 female employees suddenly stopped working, resulting in the introduction of the Equal Pay Act of 1970. This was created by the British parliament and prohibited less favourable treatment between men and women in terms of pay and working conditions. However, the law did now become enforceable until five years later, and unfortunately, it was unsuccessful, as the gap between the wages of both genders still remains.

In 1975, the Employment Protection Act was introduced, which was the first piece of maternity legislation of its kind in the UK. However, the long qualifying periods meant that leave was not offered to all pregnant women. 11 years later in 1986, the Statutory Maternity Pay Regulations were introduced, which provided women with permitted maternity pay. Finally, in 1993, after a European Directive was started, all working women in the UK were entitled to maternity leave as well as pay. This was a huge and significant step in increasing women’s rights, because women no longer have to worry about not earning money during and after pregnancy.

In 2018, it was declared that all companies with over 250 employees must publish their gender pay gap data, in the hope that the bosses would increase women’s pay before it is published so as to avoid public hostility and uphold their reputations. In 2017, men made an average of 18.4% more than women, but in 2018, it decreased to 17.9% more. Although women’s salaries have increased over time, there is still more to be done to remove unequal pay between both genders.