In July 2019, the Review Panel presented its report "Is there a Gender Pay Gap in Jersey?" The Panel concluded that there is a gender pay gap, but wide-ranging statistical evidence is required in order to assess the extent of it in the Jersey economy.
The Panel identified the following themes as contributing factors to the gender pay gap in Jersey:
- Gender stereotypes from school age
- Occupational segregation stemming from subject choice at school
- Unconscious bias in the workplace
- The "glass ceiling" which stops women reaching upper levels in the workplace
- More women taking on domestic commitments
- More women taking on caring responsibilities
The Panel recommended that the Government collects, analyses and publishes data in relation to the public sector gender pay gap and any related issues. It believed that this would raise awareness of the underlying issues associated with gender pay gaps such as social norms, biases and gender stereotypes.
Since the Panel's review, the Government has reported on its gender pay gap twice. The first report was published in 2019 and the second report in April 2021. The Government's latest report shows that the difference in the average (median) pay between men and women in the public sector workforce is 14.2%.
Rather than recommending that statutory measures were introduced, the Panel opted to make a number of recommendations in the first instance which focused on initiating a cultural shift to remove the barriers women face in progressing in their careers. Follow-up review The Panel committed to undertaking a follow-up piece of work once enough time had passed for its accepted recommendations to 'bed in' and initiate cultural change. In particular, the Panel hoped that the Government's gender pay gap reporting would encourage more wide-spread reporting by businesses and organisations in the private sector. Unfortunately the Panel has found that little or no progress has been made in closing the gender pay gap and has recommended that the Government introduces statutory reporting in order to see the true extent of the gap in Jersey.
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