A new report confirms that global food systems are directed inordinately by men, adding that eight out of 10 UK organisations reviewed are paying men more than women. The gender pay gap is almost 30 per cent in favour of men in one case.
The figures emerge in the Global Food 50/50 review into gender polices across the food system. Of the 52 organisations reviewed, 10 are required to report their gender pay gap under UK law.
Of these, Unilever and pharmaceutical, animal health company Merck Sharp & Dohme were the only companies reporting higher median hourly pay for women. The report says “there was a significant gender pay gap, with a range from −8.4 per cent (in favour of women) to +27.3 per cent (in favour of men).”
Of the 52 organisations indexed, only 12 are publicly reporting their gender pay gap data.
The organisations measured included Coca-Cola European Partners Great Britain Limited, Nestlé UK Ltd, Oxfam International, and mobile operator industry organisation GSMA which partners with the United Nations World Food Programme.
The report says, “measuring the gender pay gap takes on a new urgency” in the face of Covid-19. The impact has increased women’s burden of unpaid care and their financial hardship. The report says women are experiencing increased poverty at higher rates than men.
Across the organisations measured, men held 73 per cent – 74 out of 101 – of CEO and board positions.
For one-third of the organisations, women made up less than 34 per cent of their senior management and governing bodies.
Just 6 per cent – 6 out of 97 – of leaders were women from low and middle-income countries.
And only one fifth of organisations have transparent board diversity and inclusion policies.
