MP Maria Miller has highlighted the importance of marking Equal Pay Day, which marks the day when women effectively stop earning relative to men.

Equal Pay Day falls on the 20th November this year, moving 6 days closer to Christmas than in 2019, meaning the gender pay gap has narrowed.

Speaking to the figures, Maria said ‘I’m delighted that the Gender Pay Gap has reduced since last year, meaning that women are a step closer to achieving salary parity in relation to their male counterparts. Having said this, it’s important for us to recognise that this year’s data comes with a significant reliability warning, given the complications Coronavirus has posed in terms of data collection for the Office of National Statistics, with a quarter of the usual sample of employer pay data missing’.

‘It’s possible that next year’s data will reveal how badly the pandemic has impacted women in 2020, with mothers more likely to be furloughed than fathers and likely to be made redundant in the long term. Women are also disproportionately represented in sectors hardest hit by the pandemic such as in hospitality and the arts, while reports of unlawful maternity-related discrimination and redundancies have sky-rocketed this year. Rather than resting on their laurels, it’s vital that employers tackle gender pay gaps with more urgency than ever to build back better for women in the UK post-Covid.’

The Fawcett Society is the UK’s leading membership charity campaigning for gender equality and women’s rights at work, at home and in public life. The Fawcett Society calculates Equal Pay Day by the full-time mean average gender pay gap (add everyone together, divide by the number of people) for this data, which this year is 11.5%, down from 13.1% in 2019. The mean gender pay gap for all employees, not just those working full-time, is 14.6% this year, down from 16.3% last year.