Graduates fight for equal pay

Women graduates are being paid on average 15 per cent less than their male counterparts.

The findings by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) have prompted it to launch a campaign encouraging female graduates to ask employers about pay policy.

Female graduates aged 20 to 24 earn 15 per cent less than their male equivalents. The hourly rate for all women is an average 18 per cent lower than for men. The issue is a particular problem for part-time women workers, whose hourly rate is 41 per cent lower.

The EOC today unveils an advertisement asking: "Why are women graduates still going cheap?"

EOC chair Julie Mellor said: "If employers want to recruit the best, they will have to prove that they provide equal pay."