The pay gap between men and women is at risk of widening for the first time on record, a leading pay equality campaign group warns.   The Fawcett Society says that women still earn 14.9% less on average than men for the same job.    But it says this gap could widen as public sector cuts push women into the private sector, where the gap is wider.   The warning coincides with a survey which suggests that a woman can earn £423,000 less than a man in her career.   That average lifetime earnings figure comes from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) 2012 Gender Salary Survey, which also finds that the average pay gap stands at £10,060. This is a drop from 2011, when the difference was £10,546.

Women also lose out when it comes to bonuses, receiving less than half the average £7,496 that men receive, says the CMI.   Minister for Women and Equalities Jo Swinson said: “Pay inequality remains a stubborn obstacle to real fairness in the workplace.

The CMI’s National Management Salary Survey, conducted by XpertHR, collected data on 38,843 employees, from junior manager to board level, between August 2011 and August 2012.