100 years to close pay gap between male & female

The latest research carried out by the Chartered Management Institute has found that the pay gap between male and female executives is at its highest yet with men earning on average £10,500 more than women. Male executives are earning £42,441/year on average and their female counterparts are taking home an average of £31,895. This gap has actually grown in the last 2 years and is especially evident in IT and Retail.

In addition at the top level of pay, not only do women earn considerable less than their male counterparts but their jobs are more vulnerable too. This is particularly worrying since there is wide consensus that the UK needs more women on the boards of British Companies. Following a government enquiry into just this topic earlier this year, the 30% club has been set up to bring about a substantial increase in the number of women  given the opportunity to serve on company boards.

It is now 41 years since equal pay legislation was passed. But these figures clearly show that the law is not protecting women’s pay. At the current trajectory, it will take nearly 100 years for women’s pay to catch up. One argument is to take another look at how maternity/paternity leave is granted in order to remove the built-in disadvantage that faces women. However maternity breaks do not entirely explain the pay gap. Trade Unions have argued that there are particular categories of work which are done by women and the pay grades set for these jobs then create these differences. This is especially the case in some public sectors – the NHS – for example.

But other campaigners argue that is the way that the legislation is framed that is the problem. If an individual woman thinks she is paid less than her male counterpart, she has to find clear evidence of discrimination. This can be hard to come by as employers are no obliged to publish rates of pay. Some campaigners are arguing that companies which employ more than two hundred and fifty workers should be obliged to publish average pay rates for both their male and female employees.

So far, at least, the Government shows no sign of wishing to force companies to publish average pay levels comparing the sexes. Maybe the longer term solution is for more women to get into senior positions in companies, so gaining the power to make equal pay happen. But whether that will take 98 years remains to be seen.

What do you think?

Are we spoiling our children?

Much has been written about the UK riots and their causes. Many questions have been raised about whether enough has been done to support the young people in the most disadvantaged communities in London, Manchester, Birmingham and so on. But do parents of the middle classes need also to take a good hard look at their own offspring?

To what degree have we all contributed to creating a spoilt generation of young people who expect the riches of the world to fall into their laps, and if it doesn’t happen easily, to claim benefits? How many of us have teenagers who do not do laundry, empty dishwashers yet expect meals to appear magically and can’t get out of bed until midday? How often have you come home after a hard day at work to find a chaos in your house and kids happily ensconsed in front of the TV?

Well we only have ourselves to blame. It is up to our generation to lead by example and train our kids up not just to feel they are “entitled” to the good things in life but that they have to WORK to earn them. Holidays are interesting times for parents. With kids off school but mutiple chore still needing to be done, who is doing them? Usually in my experience, the long suffering parents.

Well today I am setting 2 teenage boys the task of cooking lunch for 7. They will have to choose a menu, shop for the ingredients, cook and wash up.

But first I need to get them out of bed!

Prince Charles …. you got it so right!

Prince Charles and his wife Camilla visited Tottenham on Wednesday where some of the recent  recent rioting took place. There the Prince of Wales met community members and emergency service workers at a leisure centre in this North London neighbourhood. The riots that broke out here initially were in reaction to the shooting of a local man by the police on August 6.

Prince Charles’s charity, The Prince’s Trust has rapidly announced plans to double its support for young people in the worst affected areas.

To find out more about the excellent work done by The Prince’s Trust:

http://princes-trust.org.uk/

Wise words from Desmond Tutu

Archbishop Desmond Tutu spoke these words back in April, well before the riots kicked off, but it’s relevance is strangely uncanny:

“Business leaders should not try to pretend their professional activities take  place in some sort of walled-off space. Their actions will affect society,  he said. Think instead about the bigger picture.

You are not just a money-making machine. You have a home, a spouse, children  … if you encourage predatory characteristics you might perhaps succeed but  you are increasing resentment against yourself and those who are associated  with you.

So whatever contributes to the wellbeing of society in a positive way must  have important repercussions for business. If you have a community that is  prosperous, healthy and happy, shouldn’t that automatically mean that it  will be good for business?”

The reverse is clearly also true. If you have a (segment of) society that is unprosperous, unhealthy and unhappy this is bad for business.

Recent reseach into Corporate Social Responsibility clearly shows that companies that take their CSR seriously are also more profitable. There is now a demonstrable business case to be made. As an employer you can satisfy all your stakeholders including shareholders, customers and  employees but also and especially local communities.

This is the time for business to roll up their sleeves and take action, design programmes that will benefit the sort of youngsters who live in the deprived communities around them.

Link to Desmond Tutu’s speech: http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/public/Appointments/article598395.ece

 

Where do we go from here?

There seems to be two schools of thought following the rioting in the UK, either that government agencies have intruded too far into people’s lives and have in effect destroyed the power of the family or that government has in fact not done enough and has failed young people.

It’s clear that over the next days and weeks politicians and journalists and others will be endlessly debating how we got to this point. David Cameron made a powerful speech in the House of Commons yesterday. For the full text see  camerons statement

What is clear is that this is not just a UK problem. It’s interesting to compare events in France and elsewhere in Europe too. What conclusions have been drawn from our European neighbours?

One emerging theme seems to be high youth unemployment. A lot of the talk currently seems to focus on what government should do. I would like to look at this from a different angle, a business perspective.

local businesses can support youth projects like this one in South London

My question :  What can and should the business community do?

Arrested schoolworker walks into lamppost!

It’s shocking to think that a leaning mentor from a London school was one of those arrested in Croydon for looting. This man, Alexis Bailey may find that the TV he stole proves to be the most expensive electronic transaction he ever makes….

After walking out of court he held a copy of the Metro newspaper over his face to hide his identity….and walked into a lamppost.

Isn’t it ironical?

Watch it here

What are the roots causes of these riots?

I just saw this article in The Australian. Their take on the root cause of the riots in the UK is that what we are seeing is a “mollycoddled mob” who have no interest or respect for community because the welfare state has intervened so deeply into their lives it has destroyed those working class values such as self-reliance and solidarity that might once have held communities together.

In addition, the reaction of the Police has been disappointing to the extent that they have seemed to hold back rather than dive in and make arrests etc.

For the full text klick here

 

London is back to normal

It seems that things are getting back to normal after Monday night’s violence around Clapham Junction. The presence of extra police – there were 16,000 police accross London last night – certainly must have acted as a deterrent to the young people who were bent on wrecking shops and stealing electrical goods trainers and clothes. I just hope that the parents of these youngsters, some of whom are as young as 11, are keeping a closer eye on them and keeping them at home. There is a huge amount of CCTV footage available and the Police will certainly be following up.

I wonder if these rioters ever stopped to think that of the effect their behaviour has had? I hope that they are starting to realise that they have trashed businesses that have been built up by hard working entrepreneurs who are already having a tough time surviving in the current economic climate. Just because you think you have a raw deal does not mean you have the right to steal ar damage other people’s property.

On a more positive note, many local people came out to help clear up the mess and it’s all looking like business as usual today.

Check out Battersea MP, Jane Ellison’s latest update

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