Why Are Brands For Women Paying Them Less?

Conducted in April 2018, the research analysed recent figures released by the UK government’s gender pay gap service from businesses with at least 250 employees or more. The results showed that top fashion, lingerie and jewellery brands had tremendous differences in the amount that they paid men and women on average, despite having women as their target audience.

After excluding football clubs - who are already well known for their wage imbalances - lingerie brand Boux Avenue topped the list for the worst gender salary gap amongst the data we analysed. Men in the company earn a staggering 75.4% more than women per hour on average, despite the fact that males only make up 9% of the company's workforce.

Jewellery retailer Pandora and women’s fashion house Coast followed suit, with 72% and 71% gaps respectively. Interestingly, these retailers also had very few male employees with men only making up 10% of each pay quartile in Pandora and only 5% of the entire workforce at Coast.

Male CEOs Are Cashing In

One explanation for the odd trend is that in each of these cases, men feature solely in the top pay quartile and C-Level executive positions. The huge pay packets at these senior levels mean that averages can shoot right up, even when a vast majority of the workforce is female.

Previous research by Adzuna has highlighted that British men are significantly more confident than women in furthering their career and this could play a key factor as to why men dominate the top spots. The study discovered that C Suite men are almost six times more likely to apply for a job that furthers their career than women and this will of course, directly affect pay gaps. In fact, the data showed that on average, men with 10+ years’ experience achieve £19,000 (25%) more in salary than their female contemporaries.

Women’s Brands with the Biggest Gender Pay Gaps

*Out of a total 10,233 companies analysed. Excludes football clubs.

Female Executives CAN Make a Difference

However, for women trying to climb the career ladder, the analysis was not all doom and gloom. Care and education industries topped the tables when it came to employing women in the highest pay quartile and the percentage of women in senior positions made a clear difference to the wage imbalance figures. 15 companies had its top pay roster exclusively made up of females and saw them earning up to 51% more than men.

Better yet, companies with females in C-Level executive roles often see significantly lower pay gaps. Whitbread (owner of Costa), Kingfisher (owner of B&Q) and Severn Trent Water all boast female CEOs and pay gaps under 18%.

Changing Attitudes Is a Must

If brands value their reputation - particularly major brands focused on an all-female clientele - they will put in the work to ensure women are better represented at the top level. Once negative attitudes towards female roles in the workplace change, more women will be encouraged to apply for executive and director positions.

Andrew Hunter, co-founder of Adzuna, commented: “Despite many British business making proactive steps to narrow the gender pay gap, it’s disappointing to see such huge levels of inequality in so many industries fundamental to the success of the U.K economy. Recent statistics from the TUC show that women on average work 67 days a year for free because of the current pay gap - this must be addressed.”