The latest statutory reporting has revealed that the Gender Pay Gap is not being addressed in Cheshire East.

Not all companies have reported yet because the government has extended the deadline due to the coronavirus crisis.

However, the data gathered to date shows that the mean (average) pay gap for employers in Cheshire East is now 12.3% against a national average of 14%.

The median (difference between the middle man and middle woman) pay gap in Cheshire East is 9.6%, unchanged from two years ago.

Seventy five percent of reporting organisations in Cheshire East still pay men more than women on average, which is unchanged since last year.

Cheshire East Council is performing slightly worse than the regional average, with mean and median gender pay gaps of 14.5% and 12.7% respectively.

Kay Wesley, Cheshire East Co-Leader of the Women's Equality party and a Congleton Town Councillor, commented: "The gender pay gap exists for several reasons, some of which are complex.

"It is not always due to unequal pay for the same work – this is already illegal but still happens in some organisations.

"It has been shown by the Fawcett society that in large corporations, men often get promoted more quickly due to unconscious or conscious bias on the part of a male-dominated leadership teams.

"TotalJobs has demonstrated that job adverts for management roles often feature biased words and phrases that are more appealing to men than women.

"Women's careers often nosedive after they have had children, whereas men's do not.

"Finally, jobs that are traditionally done by women tend to be under-valued by employers and society as a whole, and are therefore paid less than jobs traditionally done by men."

As well as publishing their gender pay gap, companies have to publish an explanation of it and their strategies for reducing it, if appropriate.

These can include more flexible working and childcare support so that parenting does not become a barrier to career progression, removing unconscious bias from job descriptions and hiring or promotion processes, and encouraging diverse groups of people to apply for all positions.

Some Cheshire East-based organisations, like Wood Group and Siemens, also do outreach work in schools and universities, for example to encourage more girls to choose a career in engineering, and they encourage senior leaders to advocate diversity and inclusion, role-modelling good practice.

Wesley continued: "It is simply unacceptable that in 2020 women are still being paid less than men, and that this situation has hardly changed since reporting began three years ago.

"The current narrative is all about the COVID-19 crisis and the 'front-line workers' who are keeping us safe.

"This covers many different types of job, but those most at risk, working day-to-day with patients, are primarily nurses, healthcare assistants and social care workers, all professions dominated by women.

"According to PayScale, in the UK the average social care worker – more than 80% of whom are women - is paid just £8.19 per hour – compared to, for example, a bricklayer who is paid £13.41 per hour.

"I'm sure all those whose elderly or sick relatives have relied on social care workers would agree that this is a gross injustice that must be addressed.

"After this epidemic is passed, we call on the government to overhaul our social care system, recognise the immense skill and commitment of those who work in this vital sector, and provide appropriate funding so that they can be paid the professional rates they deserve."