Glass ceiling still there for female States' employees

Tuesday 29 November 2016

Figures released under the Freedom of Information law show that women are heavily under-represented in the top pay bands of Jersey's civil service.

Of employees paid more than £100,000-a-year by the States, just 21% are women with 79% being men. But it's the exact opposite in the lower pay grades - amongst those paid less than £50,000, women make up 63%, compared to 37% being men.

Those figures have been branded “quite stupid” by Senator Sarah Ferguson, who says the glaring disparity is “worryingly poor.”

She said: “So that means women do still get the rough end of the stick. That is not a surprise to me.

“I have to say the idea that women are only good enough to fulfil the roles on lower pay and not in the upper pay bracket is quite stupid and a shame really because the States are losing out.

“I am not by nature a natural bra-burner and I think Margaret Thatcher did more for women’s rights by getting on with her job rather than talking about it all the time, but I do think these figures are worryingly poor.

“It cannot be right that women are in the majority in the lower pay band but only one in five when it comes to top pay.

“I have to be reasonable and say some of this is because many women have to take maternity leave to have children. That can obviously affect their careers and after having children, if they can’t afford a nanny, what happens then? They can get left behind in the careers stakes.”

Senator Ferguson is the only Senator of eight currently sitting in the States, while there are three female Constables out of 12. Of the Deputies currently in the assembly, only eight out of 29 are female.

Senator Ferguson said: “Those figures may be so, but I still would not advocate women-only elections. I think women have to get where they are on merit and merit only. I think it is a shame though that a lot are overlooked. When it is a straight choice between a woman and a man, the chances are the man will get the job and that can’t be right.”