The UK is falling far behind its European neighbours for gender pay equality, according to new research.
Data analysed by Spotahome ahead of International Women’s Day, has ranked the UK fifth from the bottom in Europe for gender pay equality.
The UK currently ranks 25th out of 30 European countries analysed for gender pay gap – in front of only Slovakia, Portugal, Switzerland, Iceland and Finland.
Luxembourg and Italy hold joint first-place for pay equality; with Romania and Belgium coming in a close second and third.
The picture looks a little brighter for the UK when overall equality is considered, ranking 13th overall. However, where the UK ranks highly in 2nd place for LGBTI friendliness, this is offset by middle-of-the-road rankings for immigrant acceptance (12th), quality of life (12th) and political rights and civil liberties (16th).
From April 2018, the UK Government is requiring every company with more than 250 employees publish its gender pay data on its dedicated website, in a measure to dissipate the pay gap.
Commenting on the findings, Melissa Lyras, Brand and Communications Manager at Spotahome said, “To help our customers better prepare for their relocations, we have analysed data from a selection of European countries covering the issues which matter most to them.”
“Our analysis has shone a light on how far behind the UK is falling vs. other European countries when it comes to gender pay equality.”
“While it’s heartening to see strides being taken in some European countries to improve and uphold pay equality, it’s evident there is still a lot of work to do.”
“The gender inequality score has hindered the ranking for many of Europe’s largest economies including the UK and Germany and should be a key focus for improvement across the board for governments, corporations and citizens.”
