1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:11,040 Speaker 1: M Carrie Gracie was a top editor at the BBC. 2 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:14,360 Speaker 1: She worked there for thirty years, and about five years 3 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:17,000 Speaker 1: ago she moved to China for a prestigious job as 4 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:21,800 Speaker 1: one of four international editors. Then last summer she found 5 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:24,680 Speaker 1: out she made fifty percent less than the men doing 6 00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:30,280 Speaker 1: the same job. She resigned. I was for four years 7 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:34,720 Speaker 1: leading our China coverage. That's carry testifying in front of 8 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:38,320 Speaker 1: British Parliament a few months ago. There are significant risks 9 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:41,080 Speaker 1: in our China coverage. I dealt with them. I did 10 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:44,160 Speaker 1: a good job. Twice. I've been a World Television Society 11 00:00:44,479 --> 00:00:47,120 Speaker 1: normally for the BBC for specialist journalists of the year. 12 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:51,680 Speaker 1: It's just and you know what, I get me emotional. 13 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:56,320 Speaker 1: But what I really wants to say about this equal 14 00:00:56,360 --> 00:00:59,160 Speaker 1: pay problem at the BBC is what it forces the 15 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:04,560 Speaker 1: BBC to do is to retrofit in defense, you know, defenses, 16 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:09,039 Speaker 1: justifications of the indefensible. The BBC gets most of its 17 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:13,000 Speaker 1: funding from the public. Its newest charter required the broadcaster 18 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:16,319 Speaker 1: to reveal how much it pays its top talent. The 19 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:19,280 Speaker 1: government thought that people should know where their money was going. 20 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:23,200 Speaker 1: It turned out it was mostly going to men. The 21 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:26,280 Speaker 1: BBC had a wide pay gap at its most senior levels. 22 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:30,600 Speaker 1: The top man made over two million pounds, the highest 23 00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:33,520 Speaker 1: paid woman just a quarter of that. You have an 24 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:36,800 Speaker 1: equal pay problem, but you can't admit it because you 25 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:41,480 Speaker 1: don't want to confront what maybe fiscal liabilities, which we 26 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:45,080 Speaker 1: all agree are there. The BBC's pay scandal and Carries 27 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:49,000 Speaker 1: public statements caused a big headache for the company. The 28 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:52,840 Speaker 1: broadcaster has faced almost two hundred equal pay complaints and 29 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:57,280 Speaker 1: a flood of negative press. The BBC told Bloomberg in 30 00:01:57,320 --> 00:02:00,600 Speaker 1: a statement, we are committed to making the BBC the 31 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:03,200 Speaker 1: best place for women to work, and have said we 32 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:05,520 Speaker 1: want to close the gender pay gap and have women 33 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:09,520 Speaker 1: in half of leadership and on air rolls by When 34 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:12,240 Speaker 1: individual issues over pay have been raised, we have sought 35 00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 1: to resolve them as quickly as possible, but Carry wants 36 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:20,680 Speaker 1: more from the BBC. My problem will be resolved by 37 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:23,880 Speaker 1: an acknowledgement that my work was of equal value to 38 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 1: the men who I served alongside as an international editor. 39 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:31,480 Speaker 1: Carrie's story doesn't sound that different than the ones we've 40 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:34,480 Speaker 1: been telling you about in the US, but there is 41 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:38,680 Speaker 1: one big difference between here and there. The British government 42 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:41,920 Speaker 1: isn't just requiring the BBC to fest up about pay, 43 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,040 Speaker 1: it's requiring all of its biggest businesses to report their 44 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:48,760 Speaker 1: gender pay gaps. Companies don't have to get as specific 45 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:52,120 Speaker 1: as the BBC did. Remember, the BBC is funded by 46 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:55,440 Speaker 1: British taxpayers, so that's why it had to disclose. But 47 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:57,920 Speaker 1: as part of a new law that went into effect 48 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:01,080 Speaker 1: this year, all large companies in the UK have to 49 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:04,079 Speaker 1: report to the government what they pay men versus women. 50 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:07,560 Speaker 1: And Carrie's story was kind of a prelude to the 51 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:16,040 Speaker 1: reckoning the entire country is going through now. When you 52 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:19,320 Speaker 1: look at the world, you know what the population like, 53 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:22,239 Speaker 1: Where is our place like? Where is our value? Where 54 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:26,040 Speaker 1: going to deserve people for equal work? The gender alive 55 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:29,480 Speaker 1: stops to keep women not on a pedistal but in 56 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:33,120 Speaker 1: case you don't feel it, But when you see the numbers, 57 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 1: it's shocking. Get a power equalization between the sexiest women. 58 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:42,680 Speaker 1: What do they want? We want to end gender inequality 59 00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:48,040 Speaker 1: and to do this we need everyone involved. Without women's work, 60 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:52,120 Speaker 1: the wheel of the country they did not turn. You 61 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:54,480 Speaker 1: always ask who's the best person, and it forms a 62 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:57,760 Speaker 1: white bloke that's got to pay something wrong. And here 63 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:05,800 Speaker 1: are the all male nominees. Welcome back to the paycheck. 64 00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:10,560 Speaker 1: I'm Rebecca Greenfield. The pay gap isn't just a phenomenon 65 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:14,720 Speaker 1: in the US. Globally, women make about half of what 66 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:17,799 Speaker 1: men do, and that's average earnings. According to the World 67 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:21,920 Speaker 1: Economic Forum, the UK looks a lot like the US. 68 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:25,200 Speaker 1: There are some equal pay laws on the books, but 69 00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:28,800 Speaker 1: on average women make a little under twenty less than men. 70 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:32,920 Speaker 1: But unlike the US, the UK is trying to fix 71 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:36,240 Speaker 1: things on a national scale. The country is in the 72 00:04:36,279 --> 00:04:40,640 Speaker 1: middle of a big nationwide experiment. As of April this year, 73 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:44,240 Speaker 1: every large company in the UK had to publicly report 74 00:04:44,279 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 1: its gender pay gap. That is, the raw, unadjusted difference 75 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:51,080 Speaker 1: between what all the men and all the women make 76 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:55,400 Speaker 1: in a given company. It's a shaming initiative. Companies who 77 00:04:55,480 --> 00:04:58,280 Speaker 1: have particularly big gaps, and a lot of them do, 78 00:04:58,839 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 1: will be theoretically incentivized to close them. So far, over 79 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:07,080 Speaker 1: ten thou companies have reported, and what they've reported in 80 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:10,120 Speaker 1: most cases is that men are making more than women. 81 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:14,599 Speaker 1: Goldman Sachs remember the company from episode one that's fighting 82 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:17,799 Speaker 1: a class action gender discrimination suit here in the US. 83 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:21,640 Speaker 1: It's female UK employees make less than half of what 84 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:24,280 Speaker 1: the men do. Over at Bloomberg dot com, there's a 85 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:27,640 Speaker 1: graphic that compiled all the company pay gaps, including ours. 86 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:32,400 Speaker 1: These numbers aren't broken down by job title or level 87 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:35,920 Speaker 1: of experience, so they don't tell us anything about what 88 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:38,840 Speaker 1: men and women are being paid for the same jobs. 89 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:42,440 Speaker 1: What these numbers show is that at most companies, women 90 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:46,040 Speaker 1: hold very few of the highest paid positions. The question 91 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:50,640 Speaker 1: is what happens next. Susie Ring, a reporter in Bloomberg's 92 00:05:50,680 --> 00:06:02,680 Speaker 1: London bureau, reports, now that gender pay reporting is the 93 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:07,200 Speaker 1: law in England, every single UK company with two fifty 94 00:06:07,279 --> 00:06:10,320 Speaker 1: employees or more has had to report their gender pay gap. 95 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:14,159 Speaker 1: They had a deadline of a to do it, and 96 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:17,239 Speaker 1: the figure they were asked for was simple, no fancy 97 00:06:17,279 --> 00:06:21,080 Speaker 1: math needed, just what an average do the men make 98 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:24,240 Speaker 1: at your company versus what the women make. If the 99 00:06:24,279 --> 00:06:27,080 Speaker 1: men make a lot more, it likely means yours as 100 00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:29,520 Speaker 1: a company where men are mostly at the senior levels 101 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:31,920 Speaker 1: with the best paid jobs, and women have a lot 102 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:35,960 Speaker 1: of the more junior roles. I can remember it being 103 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:42,960 Speaker 1: very male top heavy, so I remember attending events and 104 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:45,720 Speaker 1: the men at the front were exactly that. There are 105 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:51,799 Speaker 1: men um and I remember looking at those people and thinking, 106 00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:56,000 Speaker 1: will I ever be standing on that stage with those men? 107 00:06:56,720 --> 00:06:59,680 Speaker 1: Or actually is it? Is it a man's job? Is 108 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:04,159 Speaker 1: it the league manstrow white meal jaw? Actually? This is 109 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:07,880 Speaker 1: Sarah Farquaharsen. She's thirty two and has been working in 110 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:11,960 Speaker 1: customer service since she was seventeen. She says that through 111 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:15,200 Speaker 1: her years in the industry, she's noticed something about her colleagues. 112 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:18,920 Speaker 1: They're mostly women, and the people in the most senior 113 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:25,840 Speaker 1: ranks mostly men. Sarah now works for Virgin Money, the 114 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:30,480 Speaker 1: financial services business of Richard Branson's sprawling Virgin Empire. She 115 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:33,239 Speaker 1: works at the company's customer service center in the northern 116 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:36,760 Speaker 1: English city of Newcastle. It's her job to check on 117 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:40,280 Speaker 1: how well other customer service agents are answering customer complaints. 118 00:07:41,480 --> 00:07:43,800 Speaker 1: She's also paid less than most people at her company. 119 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:47,640 Speaker 1: Customer service workers are among the lowest paid groups at 120 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:50,960 Speaker 1: Virgin Money, and most of the customer service workers are women. 121 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:54,960 Speaker 1: That's why, even though Virgin Money has a female CEO 122 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:58,360 Speaker 1: and it openly celebrated this new gender pay reporting law 123 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:01,320 Speaker 1: and wants to be at the fourth of women's equality, 124 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:05,000 Speaker 1: the company ended out reporting a thirty two gender pay gap. 125 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:08,240 Speaker 1: Here's their CEO, Jane A. Gardia. The reason that we 126 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:12,280 Speaker 1: report gender pay gap for thirty two is that although 127 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:16,119 Speaker 1: I'm you know, we have a female chair, female CEO, 128 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:20,520 Speaker 1: and we've got female representation on our EXCO at our 129 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:25,040 Speaker 1: next senior levels of management, we are about male and 130 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:31,200 Speaker 1: our customer services brilliant staff are predominantly female. And so 131 00:08:31,320 --> 00:08:34,080 Speaker 1: when you add up everybody's salaries and divide the male 132 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:35,959 Speaker 1: and the female salary, then you get the thirty two 133 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:38,559 Speaker 1: percent pay gap. And that's why I still think numbers 134 00:08:38,559 --> 00:08:42,120 Speaker 1: are important, because our objective is to get to fifty 135 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:45,960 Speaker 1: fifty throughout the organization, and that means recruiting more brilliant 136 00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:50,200 Speaker 1: men to be fabulous customer service agents and recruiting more 137 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:54,440 Speaker 1: brilliant women to be you know, in all layers, if 138 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:56,840 Speaker 1: you like, of the hierarchy of management, and at that 139 00:08:56,960 --> 00:09:01,280 Speaker 1: point our gender pay gap will be equal. When I say, 140 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:03,320 Speaker 1: Virgin Money wanted to be out front in the fight 141 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:07,480 Speaker 1: for women, here's an example. They reported gender pay figures 142 00:09:07,559 --> 00:09:10,720 Speaker 1: a year before they legally had to revealing their pay 143 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:14,720 Speaker 1: gap for twenty sixteen. Back then the number was even 144 00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:19,920 Speaker 1: bigger thirty six. So here was Virgin Money trying to 145 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:22,440 Speaker 1: do the right thing and be transparent about their numbers 146 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:25,280 Speaker 1: before they technically had to, and their numbers have not 147 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:28,280 Speaker 1: been making them look good, and women weren't moving up 148 00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:31,680 Speaker 1: into the higher ranks from customer service rolls. The customer 149 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:35,120 Speaker 1: service segment accounted for about half its gender pay gap. 150 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:39,760 Speaker 1: Here's why Sarah, the customer service worker at Virgin Money, 151 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:44,440 Speaker 1: thinks things ended up that way. I think customer services 152 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:49,800 Speaker 1: has has historically been a female thing. Um, so you've 153 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:54,840 Speaker 1: probably got the forty fifty years worth of female experience 154 00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:57,640 Speaker 1: in that area. We work all sorts of shift patterns 155 00:09:57,720 --> 00:10:02,680 Speaker 1: of virgin and and and I mean that might lend 156 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:06,199 Speaker 1: it that actually might lend itself to women more because 157 00:10:06,559 --> 00:10:10,439 Speaker 1: historically and we have got a we culturally have more 158 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:12,920 Speaker 1: of an issue where there is still a view that 159 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:16,679 Speaker 1: the woman is the caregiver. And so if if a 160 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:19,040 Speaker 1: man returns to a full time and a woman needs 161 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:20,760 Speaker 1: to fit to it, I was around that she will 162 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:25,360 Speaker 1: go for a business who offers flexible working. Jana and 163 00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:28,839 Speaker 1: Guardia says getting their gender pay gap from thirty down 164 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:32,719 Speaker 1: to is a start, but she acknowledges they've got a 165 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:35,520 Speaker 1: lot of work to do. Remember, going to a number 166 00:10:35,559 --> 00:10:39,840 Speaker 1: of organizations and broadly forty year old white men saying 167 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:41,120 Speaker 1: to me, when you're trying to take my job and 168 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:44,880 Speaker 1: my son's job away from me. And the point is 169 00:10:44,920 --> 00:10:47,000 Speaker 1: that we have to give ourselves time to my progress 170 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:49,520 Speaker 1: because we're not in the business of firing men. It's 171 00:10:49,559 --> 00:10:54,000 Speaker 1: about making sure that every time there's a new job advertised, 172 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:56,959 Speaker 1: we've got diverse job lists to choose from. It's about 173 00:10:57,040 --> 00:11:00,760 Speaker 1: making sure that in the organization people are understand that 174 00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:05,720 Speaker 1: um everybody is filled with unconscious bias. Virgin Money is 175 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:08,600 Speaker 1: working on changes that will get more men into customer 176 00:11:08,640 --> 00:11:13,040 Speaker 1: service jobs and more women into executive positions. The bank 177 00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:15,839 Speaker 1: offers flexible hours across the company and looks at job 178 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:19,160 Speaker 1: applications blind to try and reduce the chances of gender bias. 179 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:22,520 Speaker 1: But a big part of their work, maybe even bigger 180 00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:25,560 Speaker 1: than getting more women into executive roles, is going to 181 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:28,600 Speaker 1: be getting more men into customer service jobs. And I 182 00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:31,040 Speaker 1: think that's really important because it means that you have 183 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:35,320 Speaker 1: to change some attitudes of men. You know, sometimes men 184 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:37,960 Speaker 1: think I don't want to go into a customer services job, 185 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:39,839 Speaker 1: you know, I want to go into a different role. 186 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:43,280 Speaker 1: But actually that's the way I think that in financial 187 00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:48,160 Speaker 1: services organizations, men and women can make a lifetime career 188 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:50,240 Speaker 1: that's going to be successful. It's going to be full 189 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:52,120 Speaker 1: of integrity, and it's going to mean that they can 190 00:11:52,160 --> 00:11:56,680 Speaker 1: grow to be whatever they want in in the businesses 191 00:11:56,679 --> 00:12:04,520 Speaker 1: of the future. What Virgin Money is going through this 192 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:08,080 Speaker 1: very public realization that they've put more men at the 193 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:10,319 Speaker 1: top and more women at the bottom of their company. 194 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:13,600 Speaker 1: That's happening to a lot of companies in the UK 195 00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:17,880 Speaker 1: forced to open up their pay gap numbers. Thousands of 196 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:21,600 Speaker 1: businesses are facing an uncomfortable truth and they have to 197 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:25,440 Speaker 1: figure out how to explain these numbers to the whole country. 198 00:12:26,679 --> 00:12:29,320 Speaker 1: Some companies tried to massage the data to make their 199 00:12:29,400 --> 00:12:33,319 Speaker 1: numbers look a little bit better. Earlier this year, it 200 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:36,319 Speaker 1: came out that some accountancy firms and law firms didn't 201 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:39,240 Speaker 1: include partners in the numbers the highest paid tears in 202 00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:43,560 Speaker 1: their firms. What they were doing was legal. The government 203 00:12:43,559 --> 00:12:46,200 Speaker 1: had said it was okay to report this way, but 204 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:48,920 Speaker 1: when people found out businesses were leaving partners out of 205 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:52,200 Speaker 1: the equation, their outrage forced a number of companies to 206 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:56,440 Speaker 1: restate their figures. Then there are the companies that didn't 207 00:12:56,440 --> 00:12:58,840 Speaker 1: report in time for the deadline, even though they had 208 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:04,280 Speaker 1: to buy law. About fifteen hundred businesses missed the April cutoff. 209 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:08,240 Speaker 1: In theory, a company can face an unlimited fine for 210 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:11,520 Speaker 1: not reporting, but we don't yet know how easy this 211 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:14,160 Speaker 1: will be to enforce and how much companies who don't 212 00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:18,600 Speaker 1: comply will really have to cough up. But for most companies, 213 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:21,240 Speaker 1: what the reporting did was to force them to look 214 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:24,720 Speaker 1: closely at how their businesses were structured and why women 215 00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:27,280 Speaker 1: often seemed to drift to the bottom of that structure. 216 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:31,839 Speaker 1: I mean, one classic thing was Ryanair, where there's a 217 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:35,480 Speaker 1: pay gap and they were saying, well, it's obvious we've 218 00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:38,240 Speaker 1: got seventy percent pay gap because all the men of 219 00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:41,679 Speaker 1: pilots and all the women are serving the drinks. But 220 00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:45,400 Speaker 1: they've got a global pilot shortage. Why don't they train 221 00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:49,320 Speaker 1: some more women as pilots. That was Harriet Harman. She's 222 00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:52,360 Speaker 1: a British politician and she's also the reason this big 223 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:56,520 Speaker 1: new law exists. Ryanair, the company she was just talking about, 224 00:13:56,960 --> 00:13:59,480 Speaker 1: says that they've seen an increase in applications from female 225 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:03,280 Speaker 1: pilots and are quote committed to developing this welcome trend. 226 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:06,560 Speaker 1: Harriet is not surprised by the big gaps and companies 227 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:10,320 Speaker 1: are reporting. Her third or six year long political career 228 00:14:10,559 --> 00:14:12,720 Speaker 1: has been a lesson in how the different roles are 229 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:17,120 Speaker 1: for men and women in every industry, including government. When 230 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:21,000 Speaker 1: she was elected as a Member of Parliament in only 231 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:25,600 Speaker 1: three percent of British politicians were women. It seemed like 232 00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:28,080 Speaker 1: women were blocked from lots of areas of British politics. 233 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:32,240 Speaker 1: Harriet was like a one woman wrecking crew, breaking through 234 00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:35,520 Speaker 1: those blockades one by one. She was the first UK 235 00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:39,800 Speaker 1: female Solicitor General for American listeners, that's basically the equivalent 236 00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:43,080 Speaker 1: of the Deputy Attorney General, and also the first Minister 237 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:45,760 Speaker 1: for women, a role that had never existed before her. 238 00:14:46,800 --> 00:14:49,160 Speaker 1: It was her job to make policy about issues like 239 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:53,200 Speaker 1: women's rights. One of her crusades has been gender paid transparency. 240 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:56,720 Speaker 1: But to a lot of politicians, this idea of forcing 241 00:14:56,760 --> 00:14:59,840 Speaker 1: companies to state their pay gaps, it was just too radical. 242 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:04,280 Speaker 1: I was a bit on my own arguing for transparency 243 00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:06,600 Speaker 1: for pay transparency, but I felt it would put the 244 00:15:06,680 --> 00:15:09,240 Speaker 1: power in women's hands if they could actually see what 245 00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:12,880 Speaker 1: was going on, if the veil of discrimination was torn off, 246 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:16,360 Speaker 1: because what had been happening for years is the National 247 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:20,800 Speaker 1: Statistical Office would be reporting the overall figure of the 248 00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:25,160 Speaker 1: pay gap, and every organization they'd go, oh, tucked up, 249 00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:28,120 Speaker 1: isn't that awful a pay gap? We're so against? That 250 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:31,360 Speaker 1: must be happening somewhere else. We'd never have it here. 251 00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:35,720 Speaker 1: But of course it always was happening here. Harriet realized 252 00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:39,400 Speaker 1: that without widespread support, the only way she'd ever get 253 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:42,320 Speaker 1: the law through was to go step by tiny step. 254 00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:47,720 Speaker 1: The first step was to introduce an imperfect solution, make 255 00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:51,800 Speaker 1: the program voluntary. Companies could make their pay figures public 256 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:56,000 Speaker 1: if they chose. Even getting government to do that, create 257 00:15:56,040 --> 00:15:58,240 Speaker 1: a system for companies to report their pay gap if 258 00:15:58,280 --> 00:16:01,840 Speaker 1: they wanted to was controversy. Show we had such a 259 00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:05,080 Speaker 1: fight down to the wire. It was the very last 260 00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:08,640 Speaker 1: piece of legislation that got through before the general election, 261 00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:11,160 Speaker 1: which we then lost. But I didn't manage to get 262 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:14,160 Speaker 1: the bill through until the literally the last day. In 263 00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:17,680 Speaker 1: two thousand and ten. Companies did not jump to publish 264 00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:22,400 Speaker 1: their pay figures because the reporting was voluntary. Every business 265 00:16:22,440 --> 00:16:24,760 Speaker 1: worried about sticking their neck out if they didn't have to. 266 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:29,600 Speaker 1: So by Tift, five years after the voluntary solution was 267 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:33,640 Speaker 1: put into place, only five companies in the whole country 268 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:38,920 Speaker 1: had reported their numbers. Clearly, making reporting optional wasn't working, 269 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:45,080 Speaker 1: but politicians couldn't agree on making reporting mandatory either. Vince Cable, 270 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:48,480 Speaker 1: seventy five year of British political icon and leader of 271 00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:51,760 Speaker 1: the Liberal Democrats party, was Business Secretary by this time. 272 00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:56,600 Speaker 1: He says his political opponents were really resistant to forcing 273 00:16:56,640 --> 00:17:00,320 Speaker 1: companies to report. Here he is describing how they put it. 274 00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:03,560 Speaker 1: The argument feels as well, what is it going to 275 00:17:03,640 --> 00:17:07,400 Speaker 1: tell us because men and women are doing different geomaty 276 00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:12,199 Speaker 1: is measuring like for like. But of course, as we know, 277 00:17:12,359 --> 00:17:15,359 Speaker 1: that raises the basic question about why are there and 278 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:19,840 Speaker 1: women doing different roles. In the end, it wasn't even 279 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:23,960 Speaker 1: Harriet or Harriet's party who made the reporting mandatory. A 280 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:27,960 Speaker 1: coalition government had taken power after Harriet's party Labor, was 281 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:31,760 Speaker 1: voted out, and basically what happened was that the left 282 00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:34,560 Speaker 1: wing party of that coalition pressured the right wing to 283 00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:37,200 Speaker 1: make a campaign promise when it was trying to get reelected. 284 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:41,040 Speaker 1: When they were reelected, it was the right wing Conservative 285 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:43,480 Speaker 1: party who had to make good on their promise and 286 00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:46,320 Speaker 1: ended up forcing companies to reveal their gender pay gaps, 287 00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:51,000 Speaker 1: and that's where the UK is now. It took years 288 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:54,200 Speaker 1: for a mostly male government to decide that companies should 289 00:17:54,280 --> 00:17:56,520 Speaker 1: even be asked to state what men and women make, 290 00:17:57,440 --> 00:17:59,800 Speaker 1: and even now that the numbers are out, there was 291 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:02,679 Speaker 1: still seeing companies try to make their numbers better without 292 00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:06,639 Speaker 1: paying women more, or failed to report or not adequately 293 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:08,920 Speaker 1: explain why women end up in the low paid jobs 294 00:18:09,119 --> 00:18:12,280 Speaker 1: and men in the high paid ones. Given how long 295 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:14,639 Speaker 1: it's taken us to get to this point, I asked 296 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:16,879 Speaker 1: Harriet how long she thinks it should take the country 297 00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:19,760 Speaker 1: to close its gender pay gap. These are things that 298 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:23,680 Speaker 1: management can change if they want to, And therefore I 299 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:28,240 Speaker 1: think that women have waited long enough and endured unequal 300 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:32,280 Speaker 1: pay long enough. If you try and add together all 301 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:35,600 Speaker 1: the costs that women have borne by an equal pay, 302 00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:39,640 Speaker 1: it is untold billions. So I would say sooner rather 303 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:42,240 Speaker 1: than later, I think women have fed up with waiting 304 00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:52,520 Speaker 1: for equality. We don't know yet how much there will 305 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:55,680 Speaker 1: affect the pay gap in the UK. Its main purpose 306 00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:59,159 Speaker 1: is to diagnose the problem. It's up to companies to 307 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:02,000 Speaker 1: look at their number and decide what, if anything, they're 308 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:05,600 Speaker 1: going to do. But in another European country, there's a 309 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:08,760 Speaker 1: new law that's getting a lot of attention. It compels 310 00:19:08,760 --> 00:19:12,520 Speaker 1: companies to do something about the pay gap. Iceland, like 311 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:15,439 Speaker 1: the US and the UK, passed equal pay and anti 312 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:20,280 Speaker 1: discrimination laws decades ago. The anti discrimination law has been 313 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:24,320 Speaker 1: strengthened four times since nineteen seventy six, and the country 314 00:19:24,359 --> 00:19:27,400 Speaker 1: has also passed laws requiring an equal number of men 315 00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:31,199 Speaker 1: and women on company boards. But despite all of this, 316 00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:34,919 Speaker 1: Iceland still has a pay gap of about sixteen percent, 317 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:39,440 Speaker 1: so this year it doubled down. While the UK has 318 00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:42,399 Speaker 1: been looking at the average pay difference between men and women, 319 00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:45,560 Speaker 1: Iceland has passed a new law focused on men and 320 00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:52,040 Speaker 1: women who hold the same job. Claire Setteth reports starting 321 00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:55,359 Speaker 1: this year, companies with more than twenty five employees have 322 00:19:55,520 --> 00:19:58,720 Speaker 1: to submit to the government official salaries for every job 323 00:19:59,720 --> 00:20:02,480 Speaker 1: and and if one employee is making more than another 324 00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:05,720 Speaker 1: who's doing his or her exact same job, a company 325 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:11,040 Speaker 1: has to justify that discrepancy in writing. My name is Rosa, 326 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:16,280 Speaker 1: maybe because of those long surnames mean we use giving 327 00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:20,040 Speaker 1: names in Iceland, so you can call me Rosa. But 328 00:20:20,119 --> 00:20:24,959 Speaker 1: I'm the head of the Equality Unit at the Ministry 329 00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:29,159 Speaker 1: of Welfare and in Iceland. Rosa is in charge of 330 00:20:29,160 --> 00:20:33,119 Speaker 1: this big new salary law and the experiment the country 331 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:35,640 Speaker 1: ran to see if it would even work. In two 332 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:38,840 Speaker 1: thousand eight, Iceland launched a pilot version of the law 333 00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:43,080 Speaker 1: with real businesses to see what worked and what didn't. 334 00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:47,719 Speaker 1: One of the businesses that participated was Iceland's Customs office, 335 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:51,000 Speaker 1: where men tended to be in field jobs and women 336 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:55,280 Speaker 1: worked in the office. Those field jobs they paid better, 337 00:20:56,119 --> 00:21:01,400 Speaker 1: so custom officers working out in the field, for example, 338 00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:09,160 Speaker 1: are of the cases made. And they had had the 339 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:15,360 Speaker 1: unwritten rule that those men could return to the headquarters 340 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:19,840 Speaker 1: when they were close to their retirement aids and just 341 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:24,280 Speaker 1: do ordinary office work. But then they were sitting and 342 00:21:24,359 --> 00:21:30,840 Speaker 1: sharing offices with women that were working as secretaries and 343 00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:35,880 Speaker 1: the equal past and that is based on the rule 344 00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:42,720 Speaker 1: of paying equally for jobs of equal value. So employers 345 00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:45,160 Speaker 1: needs to ask those questions, what are we paying for? 346 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:48,080 Speaker 1: You know, what value has this job for the company? 347 00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:52,080 Speaker 1: Here were men working alongside women doing the same jobs, 348 00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:56,120 Speaker 1: and because of their field job salary histories, the men 349 00:21:56,160 --> 00:21:59,800 Speaker 1: were getting paid more under this new law. The customs 350 00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:02,600 Speaker 1: are has had to explain that to the government, and 351 00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:05,440 Speaker 1: Iceland decided that If the only reason you're paying one 352 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:08,040 Speaker 1: employee more than another is that he's an older man 353 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:12,159 Speaker 1: close to retirement, well that's not a good enough reason. 354 00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:16,080 Speaker 1: The Customs Office volunteered to be part of this experiment, 355 00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:20,359 Speaker 1: they didn't necessarily think they'd find much of a paid discrepancy. 356 00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:22,960 Speaker 1: Rosa says that a lot of companies were in this boat. 357 00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:28,760 Speaker 1: But many employers set that at the beginning, we are 358 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:33,840 Speaker 1: not discriminating in our company. But in many cases they 359 00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:38,439 Speaker 1: found out that their workplaces were just astenti biased as 360 00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:44,600 Speaker 1: any other, and that there were in some cases discriminating 361 00:22:45,359 --> 00:22:49,840 Speaker 1: against individuals. I didn't know, and I don't think that 362 00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:53,680 Speaker 1: people decide that they are going to discriminate against people, 363 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:57,400 Speaker 1: or that they're going to pay this guy or this 364 00:22:57,440 --> 00:23:04,720 Speaker 1: woman more or less than the colleagues. It's something that happens. 365 00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:08,480 Speaker 1: When companies discover a pay gap like this, they're required 366 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:12,040 Speaker 1: to fix it. They can give people raises or even 367 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:15,280 Speaker 1: make pay cuts, but essentially they have to bring people 368 00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:18,720 Speaker 1: in line with the stated salary for their job. To 369 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:22,120 Speaker 1: be clear, this new law is just one small part 370 00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:26,320 Speaker 1: of Iceland's pay gap strategy. In fact, Rosa isn't really 371 00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:29,199 Speaker 1: sure why Iceland's getting so much pressed for it. We 372 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:32,960 Speaker 1: are getting a lot of attention for the work we 373 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:36,520 Speaker 1: are doing. It's it's unbelievable, you know, because I've been 374 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:40,439 Speaker 1: around since in this field, since twenty years or for 375 00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:43,679 Speaker 1: twenty years, and I mean, we have never had this 376 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:50,280 Speaker 1: attention for the policy field. Here's something incredible about Iceland 377 00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:55,000 Speaker 1: in any given year between forty and Parliament is women. 378 00:23:55,640 --> 00:23:58,119 Speaker 1: The reason Iceland has been able to tackle this issue 379 00:23:58,359 --> 00:24:00,320 Speaker 1: is that women have enough power to be able to 380 00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:03,480 Speaker 1: make the changes they want. In fact, this whole focus 381 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:08,680 Speaker 1: on workplace equality got started because in whopping of the 382 00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:12,280 Speaker 1: country's women went on strike from their jobs, from child 383 00:24:12,359 --> 00:24:25,720 Speaker 1: care and chores at home to protest their mistreatment. In 384 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:28,960 Speaker 1: Iceland was the first country in the whole world to 385 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:32,840 Speaker 1: democratically elect a woman as head of state. All those 386 00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:36,439 Speaker 1: women have helped get these laws passed. Even with all 387 00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:40,800 Speaker 1: these changes, closing Iceland's gap is taking an awfully long time. 388 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:45,720 Speaker 1: They still have that six percent pay gap, and once 389 00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:48,040 Speaker 1: you account for the differences in the types of jobs 390 00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:51,600 Speaker 1: men and women hold or hours worked, six percent of 391 00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:55,800 Speaker 1: that gap still persists. A decade ago, it was eight 392 00:24:57,240 --> 00:25:00,320 Speaker 1: but at this rate it's going to take another thirty 393 00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:04,919 Speaker 1: years to get it down to zero. Politicians have learned 394 00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:09,120 Speaker 1: from experience that genter equality doesn't come about on its 395 00:25:09,119 --> 00:25:14,400 Speaker 1: owner court. They need to push things and um. They've 396 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:18,200 Speaker 1: also learned that if they will wait on the normal 397 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:23,199 Speaker 1: poses legislative chances, they can wait forever. The fact that 398 00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:26,199 Speaker 1: even in Iceland, where so many laws are already on 399 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:28,760 Speaker 1: the books to narrow the pay gap, where so many 400 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:32,560 Speaker 1: women are making the laws, there's still a sixteen percent gap. 401 00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:34,960 Speaker 1: So as you just how hard it is to get 402 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:38,760 Speaker 1: to true equality. Iceland wants to eliminate its pay gap 403 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:41,720 Speaker 1: within the next five years. But that gap is the 404 00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:45,280 Speaker 1: results of generations of traditions and habits and beliefs that 405 00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:49,280 Speaker 1: we've held about women and men's place in society. That's 406 00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:54,080 Speaker 1: something that can't just be fixed with a few raissa. 407 00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:03,919 Speaker 1: Iceland had a magic ingredient to getting laws passed a 408 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:08,440 Speaker 1: lot of women lawmakers. The United States isn't tackling the 409 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:11,359 Speaker 1: pay gap on the same national scale as Iceland and 410 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:15,760 Speaker 1: other countries, but that could change. A record number of 411 00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:18,159 Speaker 1: women in the US declared they were running for office 412 00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:23,040 Speaker 1: in If those women win, who knows they might look 413 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:26,639 Speaker 1: to Iceland for inspiration, but that's a lot of ifs. 414 00:26:27,119 --> 00:26:29,320 Speaker 1: For now, most of the effort to close the pay 415 00:26:29,359 --> 00:26:34,800 Speaker 1: gap here isn't happening on the federal level. Next week 416 00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:37,399 Speaker 1: we'll find out what happens when it's up to companies 417 00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:44,399 Speaker 1: and not the government to fix pay inequality. Thanks for 418 00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:47,480 Speaker 1: listening to another episode of The Paycheck. If you like 419 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:50,000 Speaker 1: the show, please head on over to Apple Podcasts or 420 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:53,520 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to rate, review and subscribe. The show 421 00:26:53,560 --> 00:26:56,600 Speaker 1: was reported by Susie Rings Claire Setteth and hosted and 422 00:26:56,640 --> 00:27:00,359 Speaker 1: reported by me Rebecca Greenfield. It was edited by Chessca 423 00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:03,960 Speaker 1: Levie and produced by Magnus Hendrickson. We also had helped 424 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:08,080 Speaker 1: from Jillian Goodman, Janet Paskin, and Liz Smith. Our original 425 00:27:08,160 --> 00:27:11,679 Speaker 1: music is by Leo Sidron. Carrie Vanderyott did the illustrations 426 00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:13,960 Speaker 1: on our show page, which you can find at Bloomberg 427 00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:17,480 Speaker 1: dot com Slash the Paycheck. Francesca Levie is head of 428 00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:18,719 Speaker 1: Bloomberg Podcasts.