The Government is facing mounting pressure from other political parties and from the public to take radical steps to tackle the pay gap, according to the Fawcett Society. Women's votes will be a key battleground at the next election and Labour faces being left behind on this crucial issue.

Both leading opposition parties have now pledged to go further than the Government to tackle rip-off pay for women. As the ballots close in the Liberal Democrat leadership election, the Fawcett Society welcomes support from the two candidates, Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne, for pay audits to tackle the pay gap between women and men (1). The Conservatives have also recently announced their support for a package of measures to close the pay gap (2), indicating that this issue is now at the heart of political competition.

While the opposition parties have taken the lead on the issue, the Government is now lagging behind in its efforts to achieve equal pay for women. During her campaign for the Labour deputy leadership Harriet Harman supported setting a target for ending unequal pay and the introduction of statutory gender pay audits for the private sector (3), yet since her victory the Government has failed to introduce either.

Polling for Fawcett has shown that equal pay will be a key issue at the next election. 72% of women and 66% of men said they were more likely to listen to a politician if they thought they were committed to ensuring equal pay for women and 59% of women and 58% of men said they would be more likely to vote for them (4).

Dr Katherine Rake, Director of the Fawcett Society, said:

"There is an emerging political consensus around the need to tackle the pay gap. However, the Government is being left behind, and risks giving away votes at the next election. 71% of women say the Government must do more on equal pay and it is time for the Government to get on board and take positive steps to end rip-off pay for women.

"We are delighted that the Liberal Democrat leadership candidates have responded to Fawcett's challenge to set out what they would do to promote equality between men and women, and welcome their support for measures to tackle the pay gap. We look forward to working with the victorious candidate to tackle gender inequality."

Notes

Fawcett wrote to the candidates for the Liberal Democrat leadership to ask them to explain how they would ensure that their party promotes equality for women and men. Both candidates support pay audits to root out unequal pay. The original letter and the candidates' responses are available at http://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=557

http://www.conservatives.com/tile.do?def=news.story.page&obj_id=138528&speeches=1

http://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=474

Ipsos MORI interviewed 1,000 members of the British public age 16+ between 26 and 28 October 2007. Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. The complete topline is available on Ipsos MORI's website at http://www.ipsos-mori.com/polls/2007/unison.shtml

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