Women
are still only being paid half of what men get, according to a new government
report.
The
DTI report shows that the weekly average income for women in 2000-2001 was
£133. For men it was £271.
However,
this is still an improvement on five years ago when women’s average weekly
income was 46 per cent of men’s. It is now 49 per cent.
Around
40 per cent of women had a total individual income of less than £100 per week,
compared with less than 20 per cent of all men.
Chair
of the Equal Opportunities Commission Julie Mellor said the survey shows that
low pay or no pay remains a fact of life for many women in the UK.
"These
shocking figures reveal how many women are still existing on the bread
line," she said.
The
survey included people on benefits and the unemployed.
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It
shows that pay equality was closest for single, childless women below the age
of 40, who earn an average of £264 a week – 15 per cent below that of a single
man.
