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Gender Pay Gap Hits Women With Children Hardest

Women with children face a widening gender pay gap - leaving them 33% worse off than men by the time their first child is 12, a report has found.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) found the overall wage gap had narrowed over the last 20 years, but mothers have been getting left behind.

The study found that hourly pay rates for women were currently around 18% lower than men on average - an improvement on 23% in 2003 and 28% in 1993.

But after starting a family, the gap widened steadily until hourly pay for women was 33% less than men after 12 years.

:: Gender Pay Gap In UK 'Still Stubborn'

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The report for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation suggested the shortfall was linked to some women working fewer hours after having children - meaning they miss out on pay rises and promotions.

The IFS also found the pay gap had been closed by better conditions for lower-paid women rather than those with A-levels or degrees - who have seen little change over the last 20 years.

IFS associate director Robert Joyce told Sky News: "We don't see that the wage gap suddenly explodes the moment the first child arrives.

"What it is is a story of a lack of wage progression, so after that point women just don't see the wage growth on average that men do.

"And that's very much a story about women who choose to work part or half time.

"Understanding that lack of progression is going to be crucial to making progress in reducing the gender wage gap."

The findings suggest the UK still has work to do, even after free childcare was boosted and shared parental leave introduced.

Separate figures from the Chartered Management Institute showed there was a 23% gender pay gap in management roles - and that the figure had failed to narrow over the last year.

Male managers were 40% more likely than female managers to be promoted into higher roles, the research found.

Labour's shadow women and equalities minister Angela Rayner called on Prime Minister Theresa May - who has vowed to create a "Britain that works for everyone" - to stamp out "wage discrimination".

Julia Waltham, head of policy at charity Working Families and a mother of two children under four, said women were paying an unfair penalty while juggling work with childcare.

She (Munich: SOQ.MU - news) told Sky News: "I think they're being subjected to a motherhood penalty because they take on bigger responsibility for unpaid caring.

"And their options in the labour market are dramatically reduced by that."

A Government spokesman said: "We want to make our country a place where there is no limit on anyone's ambition or what they can achieve - that means making sure everyone, regardless of their gender, can succeed at work.

"The gender pay gap is the lowest on record but we know we need to make more progress and faster. That's why we are pushing ahead with plans to force businesses to publish their gender pay and gender bonus gap."

However, the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), a free market think-tank, said it was "common sense" that those who reduce the number of hours would see future earnings drop, and was nothing to do with gender discrimination.

IEA director general Mark Littlewood said: "When people make the decision to go part time, either for familial reasons or to gain a better work-life balance, this can impact further career opportunities but it is a choice made by the individual - men and women alike."