High-earning women ‘won’t be on level par with men for 36 years’

The gender pay gap for workers earning over £100,000 a year is not set to close for more than three decades, according to new research released this morning.

A study by investment platform easyMoney found men make up four times the number of high earners than women, with 680,000 of the 860,000 workers earnings over £100,000 in 2016 being men.

According to the report, the proportion of high earners that are women grew by an average of 0.8 per cent annually over the last 5 years, with easyMoney predicting it will take 36 years for the gap to close based on its current rate.

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"There is still a long way to go – even though there are cracks, the glass ceiling is very much still there. The trends are in the right direction but progress is very slow," said Andrew de Candole, chief executive of easyMoney.

He added: "Due to this pay gap, women are being left with less money to save over the course of their careers compared to their male counterparts. So it is even more important for them that they shop around to get the most attractive interest rates on their investments."