UK’s gender pay gap ‘won’t close for 30 years’ at current rates
Guardian2 days
Report: UK Gender Pay Gap Won't Close Until 2056
Is the gender pay gap driven by cultural attitudes or simply by different career choices?
Image credit: Mathieu Stern/Unsplash
The Spin
Left narrative
The gender pay gap persists because of deeply ingrained cultural attitudes about working mothers and unequal parenting responsibilities. Women's earnings often unfairly drop after having children, while men's increase, and this "motherhood penalty" is widespread and pervasive. Changing workplace policies alone won't fix this — society needs to shift its views.
Right narrative
The wage gap is a statistical illusion created by comparing apples to oranges. The earnings difference reflects personal choices about work-life balance, not discrimination, with men and women often making different choices relating to the workplace and home. Equal pay laws have existed since the 1970s, so any actual discrimination can be challenged in court.
Metaculus Prediction
Political split
LEFT
RIGHT
© 2026 Improve the News Foundation. All rights reserved.Version 6.18.0
© 2026 Improve the News Foundation.
All rights reserved.
Version 6.18.0