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The gender pay gap in the accommodation and food services sector has fallen by 11% in the last decade, according to a new report published today by small business advisers Informi.
Across all small business-dominated industries, which includes accommodation and food services, the gender pay gap is falling at twice the rate as that of all companies across the UK.
Ahead of this weekend’s Small Business Saturday, the report shows that women who earned just 78p for every £1 a man earned in accommodation and food services back in 2008 now earn 89p, meaning that the remaining gender pay gap in the industry stands at 11%.
Since 2008, female hourly pay in accommodation and food services has increased by 19%, while male hourly pay over the same period has increased by just 3% – meaning that the overall gender pay gap has narrowed by 50%.
The research found that while the national gender pay gap was at 21% ten years ago (and at 22% in SME-dominated industries), current wage inequalities in those sectors with a greater number of SME employees has fallen to 13%, compared to a national average of 17%.
With a 9% overall fall in the gender pay gap across these SME-dominated industries over the last ten years, the sectors are expected to eliminate the remaining 13% average wage inequalities by 2034, provided it continues to fall at current rates.
Darren Nicholls, product manager for Informi, said: “Small businesses are the lifeblood of the UK economy, and this report demonstrates that they are blazing a pathway towards wage equality and helping to eradicate the gender pay gap.
“Small businesses are not shackled by tradition, legacy or bureaucracy in the same manner as many large companies can be. That said, clearly a double digit gap is still far too high. There’s a great deal more to be done.”
He added: “The fact that mandatory reporting has been brought in by the government for larger companies should act as an encouragement for small businesses to consider female progression within their own firms.”
