Exeter council women paid more than men

Average pay tilts towards females

Women working for Exeter City Council get paid more than men on average, a new report has found.

The latest gender pay report, presented to the council’s executive this week, revealed the difference has increased slightly since last year – from 4.59 per cent to five per cent.

The reason for the difference is because three times more men are in the lowest paid category of earnings than women.

Presenting the figures, an officer explained that the council is one of the few in the country that “actually bucks the trend,” with most organisations still paying men on average more than women.

Since 2017, all companies, charities and public sector departments with 250 employees or more must publish an annual report comparing differences in pay.

A BBC study last year found the average median pay gap in 2020/21 – between the middle-ranking woman and the middle-ranking man – was 10.4 per cent in favour of men, the same as the previous year.

It is different to unequal pay – defined as paying someone less for doing the same work as the opposite gender – which is illegal. Instead, it highlights how, on average, more men occupy senior positions than women.

However, at Exeter City Council men hold 75 per cent of the jobs in the lowest pay scale, councillors were told.