By Jess McCabe | 17 May 2005, 22:31

The gender pay gap is alive and kicking.

The Guardian reports today that men enjoy an income of almost doubt that of their female counterparts, although their incomes are growing at only half the rate of women’s.

The figures, from the Department of Trade and Industry’s Women and Equality Unit, show:

The median weekly income for women was \xA3161 in 2003-04, 53% of men’s median weekly income of \xA3303.

But women’s median weekly income has gone up 31% between 1996-97 and 2003-04, while men’s income has only gone up 13%.

Things are a bit better for younger women, with those in aged 25 to 29 earning \xA3249. Best case senario, this could mean that younger women are finding it easier to succeed at work as society changes to become more egalitarian.

Also, women with children saw the biggest boost to their median incomes over the period the statistics refer to, at 50%. However, 67% of the average family’s total income came from the man, and only 32% came from the woman. In 21% of families, the woman brought in more than 50% of the family income.

So, what do all these statistics mean? Perhaps that efforts to close the gender pay gap are having some effect, but the situation is still horribly unequal.