WIREDGOV

Commenting on the Institute for Fiscal Studies' report out today on the gender pay gap, Mark Littlewood, Director General at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said:

"This study tells us little that we did not already know. If anything, the IFS has provided us with more evidence that the wage gap has nothing to do with gender discrimination. As the study itself notes, women who take time off work and return doing fewer hours are not getting paid less per hour.

"To compare the salary of a part-time worker to their potential salary had they remained full-time skews the numbers. It is common sense that if you reduce the number of hours worked your potential future earnings would also drop. And it's hard to cry 'employer discrimination' when, according to the Office for National Statistics, women in part time work last year earned on average 6.5% more than their male counterparts.

"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."

Notes to editors:

To arrange an interview please contact Stephanie Lis, Director of Communications: slis@iea.org.uk or 020 7799 8909 or 0776 6221 268

The mission of the Institute of Economic Affairs is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems.

The IEA is a registered educational charity and independent of all political parties.