UK Prime Minister David Cameron will be challenged to tackle the £245 billion ($380 billion) difference in men’s and women’s earnings on Tuesday as the new Women’s Equality Party announces its policy platform, according to Bloomberg.
Men in the UK earned £516 billion last year compared with £271 billion for women, party leader Sophie Walker will say, according to a briefing released by her office. Women, who make up 51% of the population, earn less because of lower pay for equivalent work, poor child care, extra caring responsibilities and inflexible employers, the party said.
“This all adds up not just to a gap in earnings but a gap in power,” Walker will say at an event in central London. “When British men earn £245 billion more than British women every year, it’s no surprise that women have so little say in our society. The Women’s Equality Party is here to change that.”
Walker will accuse Cameron and opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn of paying lip-service to equality while doing little to tackle its causes. The party, which was set up in March this year to tackle gender inequality across British society and says it has 45,000 members, has also pledged to campaign on topics including domestic violence, the male dominance of politics and education.
“We’re not a special-interest party; women are half the population,” Walker will say. “Equality belongs to us. The political system belongs to us. We’re within our rights to lay claim to both.”
