Research shows the proportion of UK female high earners has not changed in six years

The number of high earning British women has not changed in the past six years, despite efforts to get more women into senior roles, research shows.

According to HM Revenue & Customs data obtained from Clyde & Co law firm, females account for just 25% of higher-rate taxpayers in each of the last six years.

This percentage makes up the women declaring an income between £43,001 and £150,000 and has remained the same, while the total number of higher-rate taxpayers has seen an increase by nearly a million.

Heidi Watson, employment partner at Clyde & Co, commented on the findings:

“The stubborn refusal of the percentage of female high earners to shift upwards will disappoint those who hoped a recent focus on the gender gap would make a significant difference to the number of women in senior positions,”

“The expectation is that gender pay reporting will start to make an impact in the next few years,”

“However, there have been concerns that the new legislation lacks teeth as businesses that fail to report their gender pay figures will not face any sanctions and those that report particularly bad gender pay figures will simply be ‘named and shamed’.”

Under new regulations, all companies will be required to upload the analysis of their pay-gap  on their websites by April 2018. Those who miss the deadline will be contacted by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission.

Leader of the Women’s Equality Party, Sophie Walker, said: “These figures not only highlight the growing gap between rich and poor, where the number of higher-rate taxpayers is rising while record numbers rely on handouts from food banks, they also provide evidence for the continuing gender pay gap that we are so often told does not exist.

“The pay gap does exist, and at every level of business, because no other political party has made it a priority to fix it.

We understand that the pay gap will only be eliminated by tackling an unequal education system, lack of shared parenting, unaffordable childcare and a shortage of flexible working.”