The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) is reaching out to employers to take action in reducing the sector’s pay gap. The CII has analysed all 192 insurers, intermediaries, service providers, financial advisors and loss adjusters in the UK who have published insurance gender pay gap data, and identified an average gender pay gap of 24% (measured as the median hourly difference).

The professional body has broken down the overall numbers by subsector and recognises that the gap is too great and will be working with employers to reduce it.

Key findings of insurance gender pay gap data:

• Insurers and intermediaries have a median gap of 24% and 23% respectively
• Only three companies have a ‘negative’ gap in favour of women (measured as a median)
• A near equal proportion of men (69%) and women (67%) receive a bonus BUT the difference in how much is paid out in bonuses is significant – the median gap is 42% and the mean gap is 52%
• Much of the disparity is a reflection of the imbalanced representation of men and women at senior levels – far fewer women have roles at a senior level which impacts on salary and bonus values

Prioritising the development of flexible working good practice

The CII is now calling for a step change, encouraging the development and sharing of good practice to address the root causes of the insurance gender pay gap. The CII’s Insuring Women’s Futures programme has prioritised the development of a flexible working good practice to help employers to improve career potential for both men and women carers – identified as a key cause of the gender pay gap.

Breaking down stereotypes

The CII has identified some simple steps that organisations can adopt to kick-start the change needed to tackle the insurance gender pay gap, including breaking down the stereotypes of male / female roles, supporting flexible working, sponsoring talented individuals through schemes such as leadership training programmes and providing employees with mentors.

The Chartered Insurance Institute, as the professional body for insurance and financial planning, has a responsibility to not only recognise the existence of the gender pay gap in our profession but lead the way as a champion to ensure change happens. Without underplaying, the urgency of addressing this disparity, the pay gap itself cannot be fixed over-night. We must develop good practice in the tools and methods that are effective in addressing the root causes of the gap, and we can start that now.
The Chartered Insurance Institute will continue to identify and collate good practice for the benefit of the profession and for society as a whole. We are not looking to name and shame individual firms but to work in collaboration with the sector as a whole in order to address the root causes of the pay gap. We need to attract more women into the profession, then encourage, empower and develop them to achieve their potential.

For a full copy of the policy briefing document, CII members can visit www.cii.co.uk/insurance-gpg

The CII also published a briefing paper entitled ‘Mind the Gap’