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Young Women Are Being Trained Up For The Pay Gap In The Workplace

We are reproducing below a press release from the Equality Opportunities Commission published on 21st March 2006, the original can be viewed at www.eoc.org.uk

Female apprentices, aged 16 to 25, are being trained up for the gender pay gap by earning 26% less than their male colleagues. The findings come as the Equal Opportunities Commission, one year on from its investigation into occupational segregation, asks the government to report on action they are taking to tackle gender stereotyping in careers advice and training: action which the Women and Work Commission flagged as critical if the pay gap is to be closed.

The apprenticeship pay survey has revealed that the pay gap is primarily due to the types of training young men and women do. In the best paid sectors, electro-technology and engineering, nearly 100% of trainees are male. The worst paid sectors, early years care and education and hairdressing, are almost entirely female. Early years apprentices earn on average £95 per week, compared to £165 for trainee engineers. Although the government encourages employers to pay apprentices at least £80 per week, nearly half of early years care and education trainees earn less than the required minimum, with some earning as little as £40 per week. A further survey is needed to see how much progress has been made over the last 12 months to improve trainee pay rates.

The gender pay gap for apprentices is extended further by overtime pay. 73% of male apprentices are paid for their overtime, compared to just 52% of young women.

The high levels of gender segregation in vocational training is deepening the UK skills crisis in key job sectors. In construction alone, 350,000 extra jobs are required to fulfil existing contracts, with a further 35,000 workers needed for the Olympics, yet just 2% of construction workers are female, indicating an untapped pool of potential labour. The shortage of childcare workers is exacerbated by the sector being a virtually 'no-go' area for men. Although the situation is improving - the number of female construction trainees increased by 50% in the last 12 months and the number of childcare apprentices rose from 242 to 352 since 2003 - the figures are from a very low base.

In March 2005, the EOC's final report into tackling gender barriers to better jobs called for a national strategy to tackle gender segregation in careers advice and training. The report also called for girls and boys to have better access to information on pay rates and non-traditional jobs, to enable them to make an informed choice about the kind of work they wanted to do. At today's 'One Year On' conference, the government will report on how much progress has been made in tackling gender segregation in the workplace.

Jenny Watson, Chair of the EOC said,

"Young women taking on Modern Apprenticeships are getting good training for the pay gap in later life; they face a shocking 26% pay gap and alarming discrepancies in payment for overtime working. Apprenticeships should be a great route into work. But financially they are not working for women. Almost half of young women working in the early years field fall below government's target pay rate of £80 per week.

Employers too lose out because the extent of stereotyping in the current training system contributes to Britain's mounting skills shortage - particularly the shortfall of engineers and construction workers. The Olympics will bring thousands of extra jobs to London, and many of those jobs could go to women from local communities, benefiting their families as well as the local economy. That won't happen without a more strategic approach to tackling gender segregation in both careers advice and training.

We're pleased that data on pay rates is now available, and the next challenge is to get this information to young people so they are better informed about their chosen field of work. But we also need to ask why pay rates in the fields of early years and health and social care, where women predominate, are so low. We cannot continue to undervalue these fields, traditionally seen as "women's work", if we want to ensure we have a skilled workforce for the future."

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Notes to Editors

1. Average levels of pay per week and gender breakdown of apprenticeships by sector;

- Electro-technical - £183, 100% male
- Engineering - £167, 99%
- Customer service - £161, 29%
- Hospitality - £158, 51%
- Construction - £141, 99%
- Motor Industry - £136, 98%
- Health and Social care - £130, 11%
- Business administration - £126, 24%
- Retail - £123, 39%
- Early Years education - £95, 3%
- Hairdressing - £90, 7%

2. The Apprenticeship pay survey was carried out between March and May 2005. In total, 5,500 trainees were interviewed.

3. In March 2005, the EOC reported on its two-year investigation 'Free to choose: Tackling gender barriers to better jobs'. The report included the following recommendations:

- a national cross-Government co-ordinated strategy linked to economic andskills strategies
- a new national agenda for both primary and secondary schools to open up choices through careers advice and work experience that challenges stereotypes
- an Apprenticeship and vocational training system which encourages the take-up of atypical recruits
- proactive action by employers, including challenging occupational segregation as a productivity and business issue.

4. 'Free to choose' found that the 'education to training to work' route is failing the young women who need it most by channelling them into low paid work. The majority of young women from lower socio-economic backgrounds follow vocational routes into the workplace, which will deliver a limited range of opportunities with lower pay.

5. An EOC survey, carried out for the 'Free to Choose' investigation, found that two thirds of girls did not know about the different rates of pay for work usually done by men and women. Of these, two-thirds said they would have considered a wider range of career option had they known.

6. Speakers at today's 'One Year On' conference include Jenny Watson, Chair of the EOC, Bill Rammell, Minister for Higher Education and Lifelong Learning, John Cridland CBE, Deputy Director General of the CBI, Brendan Barber, General Secretary of the TUC and Stella Manzie of the Women and Work Commission.

7. According to an Adult Learning Inspectorate report : Construction - the Industry that is squandering its future, May 2005, an additional 350,000 construction workers are needed to fulfil existing contracts, with a further 35,000 needed for the Olympics.

For further information or to obtain a copy of the EOC report, 'Free to choose: Tackling gender barriers to better job - One year on progress report', please contact Rob Holdsworth in the EOC press office on 020 7960 7439 or email robert.holdsworth@eoc.org.uk

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