Written question asked by Keith Vaz (Labour) on Thursday, 15 December 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 19 December 2005. It was answered by Meg Munn (Labour) on Monday, 9 January 2006 on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Pay Gap

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the pay gap between men and women; and what the pay gap was in 1975.

Answer: The median full-time gender pay gap has reduced from 14.5 per cent. in 2004 to 13.0 per cent. in 2005.The full-time pay gap in 1975 was 30 per cent. using the mean¹ (as no figures are available using the median). This compares with the mean full-time gender pay gay of 17.0 per cent. in 2005².Although progress has been made, there still remains a gap between men and women's pay and the Women and Work Commission was set up specifically to look at this issue. I look forward to their final report early in the new year, and to taking action on their findings and recommendations to reduce the gender pay gap further."¹ Based on the New Earnings Survey"² Based on the Annual Survey of Hourly Earnings

Secondary information