Spendesk’s study, conducted with CFO Connect, shows that UK women in finance earn 23% less than men.
Spendesk, a provider of spend management solutions for SMEs, has found that the wage gap between men and women in the same finance professions is still significant and that progress toward genuine pay equality is still being made slowly.
Spendesk worked with the worldwide finance network CFO Connect to analyze the pay for firm finance executives at all levels in the US and Europe. According to the poll, the average overall finance pay in the US is £167,030, almost twice as much as the average salary in Europe, which is £87,813. Meanwhile, the highest average in Europe, £105,604, was found in the UK.
Pay inequality is still a major problem in the UK. In the same finance roles, women are paid about 23% less than men. Even if this ratio is 7% lower than in 2022 (30%), it shows that the UK is losing ground to other nations that have less pay inequality.
In the US and Europe, there is still work to be done on pay equity. In all, women in these locations make 12% less money than males do on average, which is a 1% increase from Spendesk’s 2022 poll. Two-thirds of men and 59% of women feel that they are fairly compensated, respectively, reflecting this disparity in job satisfaction.
Depending on the role, the wage gap varies, with senior positions having a closer alignment. For instance, the average pay for a female chief financial officer (CFO) in Europe and the US is £121,241, while the average pay for a male CFO is £122,870 – a difference of just 1.3%.
At the mid-level, however, the pay gap is inverted, with female heads of finance making 6.1% more than their male counterparts – £84,823 (female) versus £79,660 (male) – in annual salaries.
Determining how the economy affects mental health
73% of financial leaders believe that the current economic situation has affected their mental health. However, just 6% of respondents claimed the impact was significant.
According to the Spendesk study, women seem to be more influenced by the current economic climate than men are (80% vs. 70%).
The most assured group of finance professionals were those from Germany, with 37% of them saying that the current economic climate “has no impact at all” on their mental health. The UK was determined to be the area most severely impacted, with 81 percent of finance professionals there being negatively impacted.
Spendesk’s founder and CEO, Rodolphe Ardant, commented on the poll results: “We would obviously prefer to have no pay difference at all, but it is heartening to see a little decrease in the disparity. All businesses ought to be concerned about this. In order to achieve true pay parity, we need to see more steadfast action. Employers who don’t ensure adequate, equitable compensation run the risk of losing the best talent, which puts their company’s expansion and continued existence in jeopardy.
“Now, in light of years of economic instability, we are also observing significant effects on finance professionals’ mental health. We must not overlook this. We all want to establish working environments that are welcoming, fulfilling, efficient, and fun for our teams. It’s time for businesses to acknowledge the critical value of pay equity and mental health, and to take decisive action to promote a positive, inclusive workplace culture.
