Gender pay gap rises in Whitehall's top ranks
The figures are revealed in a comparison of men's and women's salary levels across Whitehall in September 2007 and March 2008 by the ONS.
They show that in most Whitehall departments men are paid more than women, and a surprising disclosure is that in some departments the situation got worse between 2007 and 2008.
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The main explanation being offered in Whitehall is that women take more career breaks than men and therefore miss out on promotion and often end up at a lower pay grade when they return to work.
Opinion will be divided on whether or it is fair to make no allowances for childbirth in a woman's career, but one thing is for certain: having to make a choice between promotion or a family almost certainly contributes to the under-representation of women in government.
