Women should ask male colleagues how much they earn to see if they are receiving equal pay, says women's minister

British reluctance to talk money 'holds women back', Jo Swinson said

Women and Equalities Minister said talking about pay is uncomfortable, but that it could be the 'catalyst' for pay rises for females

Speaking to Elle Magazine, Ms Swinson added firms may have to reveal gender pay gap, unless current voluntary measures succeed

Added that people should be proud to call themselves feminists



Openness: Jo Swinson has urged women to talk to their male colleagues about their salaries in an attempt to close the gender pay gap

Women workers should ask their male colleagues how much they earn as ammunition in their fight for pay parity, the Equalities Minister has urged.



Liberal Democrat Jo Swinson said the only way to close the 17.4 per cent gender pay gap was to ditch the ‘very British’ reluctance to discuss money.



Many women do not realise they are being paid less than their male counterparts, Miss Swinson said.



‘I think sometimes there’s something very British in our culture where we don’t talk about money, and I think that holds women back.



‘If they realised they were earning significantly less than male colleagues at a similar level, that might be the catalyst they need to ask for a pay rise,’ she told Elle magazine, which is running a campaign on women’s pay.



Ms Swinson added that the Government could implement legislation requiring large firms to reveal the pay gap between the genders unless voluntary measures are successful.

She backed the Elle and Feminist Times campaign that encourages women to ask male colleagues about their salaries.

Ms Swinson added: 'It’s not like everyone’s going to be comfortable about that, but trying to create a culture where people are open about these things can only help.

'One of the things that I think is brilliant about the Elle campaign is encouraging people to open up about their pay. It’s definitely something we should be encouraging women to feel confident about.'

There is currently legislation in place which could force companies to report their gender pay gap.

However, the Government has not enacted it - preferring its voluntary Think, Act, Report scheme encouraging companies to publish as much information as possible.

But Ms Swinson said: 'I would agree that while the pay gap is reducing a bit, it’s not reducing enough, given that we’re 40 years on from the initial legislation to say that men and women ought to be paid equally.

'I think we need to recognise that the Government does have the power to impose equal pay audits, and it may well be that if we do not see success through Think, Act, Report, that might be the only way to make this happen.'

Fair: The Minister said that large firms may be made to reveal the pay gap between the genders if voluntary schemes - such as the Think, Act, Report initiative - fail to succeed (library image)

The Government did not enact plans, inherited from Labour, to make the pay audits mandatory, but it has given employment tribunals the power to force those who break equal pay laws to carry out the reviews.

The minister added that people should be encouraged to describe themselves as feminists.

'We should be encouraging people to be happy to declare themselves as feminists. And I think in some sections of the media there is a tendency to associate feminism with bra-burning extremism. But it’s about very mainstream views about women’s role in society.

'We need to be very clear about claiming that word as something positive and I think that the new momentum behind a lot of feminist campaigns is exciting and is showing that there are still a lot of issues where we haven’t solved it.