Start-ups have worst gender pay gap

Start-ups are the worst contributors to the gender pay gap according to critics after the government rejected calls for companies with less than 250 employees to reveal what they pay men and women.

The average gender pay gap in the UK currently stands at 17.9% , which is down from 18.4% last year.

But start-ups, who are not required to publish what they pay men and women, are the worst contributors according to critics.

Sarah Hesz Co-Founder of Mush, an app where you can meet mums nearby who have children a similar age, said: “Start-ups have a very masculine culture, there’s a lot of very heavy target setting, which doesn’t necessarily talk to women, particularly women who tend to be less confident and less likely to raise their hand.

“Start-up culture can really be detrimental to that.”

In 2017, a new legislation was brought in which required all UK companies with over 250 employees to publish the difference between the median average hourly wage they pay males and females in their organisation, leaving half of the UK’s workers without knowledge of the gap in their businesses.

Despite this, the government have rejected calls to force small to medium size companies to reveal what they pay men and women.

Meena Chander, Founder of Events Together, said: “I think start-ups are more open to opportunity because of the nature of their size.

“They don’t have to adhere to a big hierarchy, they can employ whoever is best for the position.”

However, Ms Hesz added: “Despite Mush being run by two mums, we do stuff wrong all the time because things have always been done a certain way and we fall into that pattern.

“People think start-ups are places where people are pioneering and doing things right but there is still a ‘bro culture’.

“Young male founders don’t know how to employ a mum.”

The government have said the gender pay gap figures in smaller businesses are unreliable as they are more prone to changes such as people leaving and pay rises.

However, they did confirm they would consult on changing the threshold if there was the demand to do so at the end of the financial year.

But Ms Chander said: “If start-ups spend more time trying to build these reports then they spend less time trying to build up their businesses.”