They were most likely to work in hotels and restaurants where nearly two thirds of employees were women. In America, where they have had equal pay laws since 1963, women are still paid less - even when they have similar skills, experience and education. But equal pay is not just an issue for women. The AFL-CIO trade union confederation calculates that, in 1998, women were paid only 73 cents for every dollar that men received. When women get equal pay, their family incomes rise and the whole family benefits.
Men gain too.
The gap in pay in the UK is higher than the European union average. This is after taking account of other factors, such as working women being younger on average than men, because many leave the workforce to have children. Gender segregation in employment - because many women and men are concentrated in different areas of work. Those which are traditionally seen as women's work, such as nursing, teaching and clerical work tend to be lower paid. A Marxist analysis would add that unequal pay is another device used in the interests of the capitalist class to divide the workforce.