South West women 'don't negotiate salaries enough'
A negotiation expert says women not talking about wages contributes to the gender pay gap
Last updated 10th Mar 2025
Following International Women's Day, we've been told that women all over the UK aren't negotiating their salaries as much as they should be.
Florence Rolland, the negotiation expert who conducted the survey, says it's probably due to differences in how boys and girls are raised, but hopes it won't be that way forever:
A survey by Muckle Media has found that 68% of women from South West England, and 74% of women living in South East England aged between 45 and 54 have not negotiated their salary in the last five years.
One of the primary reasons the gender pay gap persists is that women are less likely than men to negotiate their salaries. Research has consistently shown that men initiate salary negotiations more frequently, while women are more likely to accept initial offers without questioning them.
Florence told us: "Historically, boys are encouraged to be competitive and sporty while women used to be more encouraged to be caring, to think of families, but I'm so glad to see that changing.
"There's a perception of backlash, that perhaps we might be seen as difficult and we don't want that to be the first impression we make when starting a new job, so we don't want to push and ask for more money."
Florence has some advice for women that don't feel like they should ask for a higher wage, she encourages them to think about their best friend, what would they say to her if she was thinking about asking for higher salary?
"You would tell her to go for it, that she's so great; she's got this skill, has this experience, you'd say 'you're worth so much more!' we need to think about that for ourselves."