Pay gap is widest in finance where women earn 60% less

WOMEN working in fund management, stockbroking and futures trading are earning up to 60 per cent less than men - a pay gap of more than twice the national average.

Annual earnings for those working in the financial services are about double the national average, but the pay gap is double that in the economy as a whole.

A similar number of women and men work in finance jobs but female employees are less likely to work in the City of London, where many head offices are based, have a degree or work in managerial or senior roles.

On average women full-time employees receive 55 per cent less annual gross pay and 39 per cent less hourly gross pay than men - with fund management, stockbroking and futures trading suffering the worst gap, of 60 per cent. Only 11 per cent of senior managers in the sector are women, compared with 28 per cent in the economy as a whole, according to a report by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research on behalf of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

But the higher women rise up the career ladder, the more likely they are to be paid less than men.

Among the highest earners, women earn 45 per cent less while for women in the lowest paid roles the gap is 16 per cent. City workers have come under fire for their hefty bonuses but in this area women miss out even more with a gap of 79 per cent.

Commission chairman Trevor Phillips said: "However you look at the numbers, women do not have equal status or equal rewards. Nobody wants this kind of unfairness, including the businesses themselves." He said the City should concentrate on tackling the inequality as it fights to restore its reputation.