The Paula Principle

ONS

What does ‘closing the GPG’ actually mean?

I've been trying to get a handle on what kind of progress has been made in closing the gender pay gap, and this has led me to ask myself what 'closing the gap' actually means.  It seems to me that the obvious 'zero gap = equality = fairness' may disguise something important. The Paula Principle is about the due recognition of women's competences, and I'm mostly interested in career trajectories over time, ie what kinds of progression women make.  But pay is obviously the most available indicator, and the ONS has recently published some important data on trends over time on the GPG.  (By the way, I want to say 'chapeau'…
Read More

Universal Credit and the dominance of the full-time model

Universal Credit must be high up on the list of policy initiatives which begin with a laudable goal and end up pointing in the wrong direction. The goal of simplification, streamlining the  mad proliferation of benefits, is obviously desirable, but there is increasing evidence on the potentially devastating impact it will have on the more marginal members of society. Most of the recent press attention has concentrated on the impact of the 6-week delays in payments on families that have no resources to fall back on.  But now more of us are becoming aware of other implications - see the powerful piece by Pilgrim Tucker in the Guardian .  I'm…
Read More

How big is the gender pay gap?

I'm taking part tomorrow in a Women's Hour discussion on part-time work, so I thought I'd use this post as a way of clarifying for myself what the position is on the gender pay gap, using the recent ONS report on earnings.  For the mathematically challenged such as myself some of the figures need a bit of puzzling out, but don't switch off - I think it's worth persevering. First, the 'headline' figure which has attracted attention is the increase from 9.5% to 10% of the median hourly earnings of full-time employees.  It's right, of course, that we should be emphatically reminded that progress towards equality is by no means guaranteed.…
Read More

ONS and part-time pay

The Guardian today carries a full-page item on 'Gender pay gap could close...by 2040'.   My first point is to give the paper a big pat on the back for its visual presentation of the statistics.  They really do work hard with the design to make the different magnitudes easily accessible, even to those of us who lack intuitive gasp of numbers.  I note also that they judiciously choose green and orange for men  and women, carefully eschewing steretypical gender colours.  I've had some intrafamilial disagreements on whether I should do the  same for my Paula Principle charts. The Guardian piece gives good prominence to the place of part-time pay.  But it's definitely worth…
Read More

What does ‘closing the GPG’ actually mean?

I've been trying to get a handle on what kind of progress has been made in closing the gender pay gap, and this has led me to ask myself what 'closing the gap' actually means.  It seems to me that the obvious 'zero gap = equality = fairness' may disguise something important. The Paula Principle is about the due recognition of women's competences, and I'm mostly interested in career trajectories over time, ie what kinds of progression women make.  But pay is obviously the most available indicator, and the ONS has recently published some important data on trends over time on the GPG.  (By the way, I want to say 'chapeau'…
Read More

Universal Credit and the dominance of the full-time model

Universal Credit must be high up on the list of policy initiatives which begin with a laudable goal and end up pointing in the wrong direction. The goal of simplification, streamlining the  mad proliferation of benefits, is obviously desirable, but there is increasing evidence on the potentially devastating impact it will have on the more marginal members of society. Most of the recent press attention has concentrated on the impact of the 6-week delays in payments on families that have no resources to fall back on.  But now more of us are becoming aware of other implications - see the powerful piece by Pilgrim Tucker in the Guardian .  I'm…
Read More

How big is the gender pay gap?

I'm taking part tomorrow in a Women's Hour discussion on part-time work, so I thought I'd use this post as a way of clarifying for myself what the position is on the gender pay gap, using the recent ONS report on earnings.  For the mathematically challenged such as myself some of the figures need a bit of puzzling out, but don't switch off - I think it's worth persevering. First, the 'headline' figure which has attracted attention is the increase from 9.5% to 10% of the median hourly earnings of full-time employees.  It's right, of course, that we should be emphatically reminded that progress towards equality is by no means guaranteed.…
Read More

ONS and part-time pay

The Guardian today carries a full-page item on 'Gender pay gap could close...by 2040'.   My first point is to give the paper a big pat on the back for its visual presentation of the statistics.  They really do work hard with the design to make the different magnitudes easily accessible, even to those of us who lack intuitive gasp of numbers.  I note also that they judiciously choose green and orange for men  and women, carefully eschewing steretypical gender colours.  I've had some intrafamilial disagreements on whether I should do the  same for my Paula Principle charts. The Guardian piece gives good prominence to the place of part-time pay.  But it's definitely worth…
Read More

What does ‘closing the GPG’ actually mean?

I've been trying to get a handle on what kind of progress has been made in closing the gender pay gap, and this has led me to ask myself what 'closing the gap' actually means.  It seems to me that the obvious 'zero gap = equality = fairness' may disguise something important. The Paula Principle is about the due recognition of women's competences, and I'm mostly interested in career trajectories over time, ie what kinds of progression women make.  But pay is obviously the most available indicator, and the ONS has recently published some important data on trends over time on the GPG.  (By the way, I want to say 'chapeau'…
Read More

Universal Credit and the dominance of the full-time model

Universal Credit must be high up on the list of policy initiatives which begin with a laudable goal and end up pointing in the wrong direction. The goal of simplification, streamlining the  mad proliferation of benefits, is obviously desirable, but there is increasing evidence on the potentially devastating impact it will have on the more marginal members of society. Most of the recent press attention has concentrated on the impact of the 6-week delays in payments on families that have no resources to fall back on.  But now more of us are becoming aware of other implications - see the powerful piece by Pilgrim Tucker in the Guardian .  I'm…
Read More

How big is the gender pay gap?

I'm taking part tomorrow in a Women's Hour discussion on part-time work, so I thought I'd use this post as a way of clarifying for myself what the position is on the gender pay gap, using the recent ONS report on earnings.  For the mathematically challenged such as myself some of the figures need a bit of puzzling out, but don't switch off - I think it's worth persevering. First, the 'headline' figure which has attracted attention is the increase from 9.5% to 10% of the median hourly earnings of full-time employees.  It's right, of course, that we should be emphatically reminded that progress towards equality is by no means guaranteed.…
Read More

ONS and part-time pay

The Guardian today carries a full-page item on 'Gender pay gap could close...by 2040'.   My first point is to give the paper a big pat on the back for its visual presentation of the statistics.  They really do work hard with the design to make the different magnitudes easily accessible, even to those of us who lack intuitive gasp of numbers.  I note also that they judiciously choose green and orange for men  and women, carefully eschewing steretypical gender colours.  I've had some intrafamilial disagreements on whether I should do the  same for my Paula Principle charts. The Guardian piece gives good prominence to the place of part-time pay.  But it's definitely worth…
Read More

What does ‘closing the GPG’ actually mean?

I've been trying to get a handle on what kind of progress has been made in closing the gender pay gap, and this has led me to ask myself what 'closing the gap' actually means.  It seems to me that the obvious 'zero gap = equality = fairness' may disguise something important. The Paula Principle is about the due recognition of women's competences, and I'm mostly interested in career trajectories over time, ie what kinds of progression women make.  But pay is obviously the most available indicator, and the ONS has recently published some important data on trends over time on the GPG.  (By the way, I want to say 'chapeau'…
Read More

Universal Credit and the dominance of the full-time model

Universal Credit must be high up on the list of policy initiatives which begin with a laudable goal and end up pointing in the wrong direction. The goal of simplification, streamlining the  mad proliferation of benefits, is obviously desirable, but there is increasing evidence on the potentially devastating impact it will have on the more marginal members of society. Most of the recent press attention has concentrated on the impact of the 6-week delays in payments on families that have no resources to fall back on.  But now more of us are becoming aware of other implications - see the powerful piece by Pilgrim Tucker in the Guardian .  I'm…
Read More

How big is the gender pay gap?

I'm taking part tomorrow in a Women's Hour discussion on part-time work, so I thought I'd use this post as a way of clarifying for myself what the position is on the gender pay gap, using the recent ONS report on earnings.  For the mathematically challenged such as myself some of the figures need a bit of puzzling out, but don't switch off - I think it's worth persevering. First, the 'headline' figure which has attracted attention is the increase from 9.5% to 10% of the median hourly earnings of full-time employees.  It's right, of course, that we should be emphatically reminded that progress towards equality is by no means guaranteed.…
Read More

ONS and part-time pay

The Guardian today carries a full-page item on 'Gender pay gap could close...by 2040'.   My first point is to give the paper a big pat on the back for its visual presentation of the statistics.  They really do work hard with the design to make the different magnitudes easily accessible, even to those of us who lack intuitive gasp of numbers.  I note also that they judiciously choose green and orange for men  and women, carefully eschewing steretypical gender colours.  I've had some intrafamilial disagreements on whether I should do the  same for my Paula Principle charts. The Guardian piece gives good prominence to the place of part-time pay.  But it's definitely worth…
Read More