Britain's gender pay gap widens

The gap between what women and men earn increased to 12.8% in 2008, according to Britain’s Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. The year before, the pay gap was at 12.5%, the lowest level since records began. The largest pay gap was in the south-east of Britain, where women’s mean hourly pay was 16.7% less than men’s. The gap was smallest in Ireland, at 2.6%.

...but improves in the HR sector

The earnings of women directors in the Human Resources sector rose almost three times more than that of their male colleagues in 2008, a survey found. Female HR directors’ earnings rose by an average 11%, compared with 4% for men. Senior women in HR still earn about NZ$15,000 less than men, however, and the industry is dominated by women, with 4 times more women HR directors than men.