The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) 2009 showed that the gender pay gap, comparing the median hourly earnings of all men and women, was: 28.6 per cent. for Hampshire; 26.6 per cent. for the South East; and 22.0 per cent. for the UK as a whole.
For full-time employees, the pay gap for Hampshire is 22.7 per cent. For part-time employees, the pay gap is 17.9 per cent., i.e. male part-time employees are paid less than female part-time employees.
The overall national pay gap has fallen from 27.5 per cent. in 1997 to 22.0 per cent. in 2009, but more progress is needed and the Equality Bill includes tough measures to improve gender pay transparency.