The Scottish Government published a report, ‘New Perspectives on the Gender Pay Gap: Trends and Drivers‘, in June 2016.
The report explains the different measures of the pay gap, breaking it down by age, sector and occupation and considers how it has been changing over time.
Whilst the pay gap can be explained in terms of factors like occupational segregation, differences in working patterns between men and women and indirect discrimination, the report explores underlying drivers, such as:
- inequality of unpaid care between men and women
- traditional social attitudes towards the role of men and women at home and the workplace
- some professions rewarding longer hours and unbroken work patterns (which are more suitable to people without caring responsibilities)
