BOE Chief Economist Calls for More Gender, Ethnicity Pay Gap Reporting
BOE Chief Economist Calls for More Gender, Ethnicity Pay Gap Reporting
(Bloomberg) --
Gender and ethnicity pay gap reporting should be extended to more firms and countries, according to Bank of England Chief Economist Andy Haldane.
In a speech in Frankfurt on Monday, Haldane acknowledged the shortcomings of existing methods of disclosure, but said that they can still act as a starting point to examine the data and consider how best to act. He said there’s a “strong case” to widen U.K. publication requirements to include companies with fewer than 250 employees and to encompass ethnicity. He also pushed for internationally harmonized disclosures across the globe.
“Published pay gaps are a starting point for corporate and national accountability and explanation, not an end-point,” Haldane said, drawing a comparison with central bank inflation mandates in which “the single target does not wholly or perfectly summarize all dimensions of the economy. But having the target serves as a catalyst for explanation and action. That improves policy accountability and societal outcomes.”
The three-century old BOE has been reporting the disparity between male and female wages since 2017 and began publishing that for ethnicity a year later. The most recent figures show the median gender pay gap is 23% and the ethnicity difference is about 7%, which Haldane said reflects lower representation of both groups at senior levels.
“Even where we can ‘explain’ pay gaps using various fundamental factors, this should not be taken to imply these gaps are necessarily justifiable,” Haldane said. “For example, consistent and large education and skills differences between cohorts could themselves be taken as evidence of a policy failure. So too might a preponderance of certain types in certain industries or occupations.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Lucy Meakin in London at lmeakin1@bloomberg.net;Yuko Takeo in Tokyo at ytakeo2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Gordon at pgordon6@bloomberg.net, Brian Swint, Zoe Schneeweiss
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