The hourly pay gap between men and women has hit its lowest margin since records began, new figures have revealed.
By measuring the median hourly rate of all full-time employees over 2006 and 2007, the Office for National Statistics has discovered the gap between male and female pay has reached an all-time low of 12.6 per cent.
According to the ONS, this is the smallest gap since records began, surpassing the 12.8 per cent reached in April 2006.
However, there are variations between pay among the different regions of the UK, the ONS noted.
The south-east saw the largest gap, while Northern Ireland had the smallest difference between gender pay.
Figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency yesterday revealed that many female graduates are being paid less than male university leavers.
Kat Stark, women's officer for the National Union of Students, commented to the Guardian that many women are unaware of pay differences.
"The government should force employers to reveal how much they pay their employees," she said to the paper.
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