Newham Council’s female employees earn an average of 23.3% more than men, new figures have revealed.
According to the council, the data from Gender Pay Gap Service “reinforce our commitment to achieve true gender equality in the workplace”. It explained this could be partly due to the implementation of the London Living Wage, which increased pay for the borough’s lowest earners.
The statistics suggest Newham is ahead of other London boroughs in terms of closing the gender pay gap, with figures from 16 other London council still showing that the average male employee earns more than the average woman.
As the largest employer in the borough, the council has 3,400 staff, including a third of whom are Newham residents. Many are women who have tended to be low paid, including catering staff, cleaners and healthcare workers.
Around 1,900 of the Newham’s care workers have benefited from a wage rise since it committed to paying all employees the real Living Wage. In 2021, the council received accreditation from the Living Wage Foundation when it decided to award all staff a minimum of £10.885 per hour.
Interim chief executive Colin Ansell said: “We have been working hard across the organisation and it is great to see the key functions performed by our female staff day in and day out are now being recognised.
“The figures from the Gender Pay Gap Service reinforce our commitment to achieve true gender equality in the workplace. I am very proud to see the impact of this work not least the implementation of London Living wage throughout our workforce. Creating an inclusive and supportive environment for women in the workplace is not only the right thing to do, but it is also beneficial for businesses and society as a whole.”
