The NAPF has published its submission to the government's consultation Closing the Gender Pay Gap.

The submission draws attention to the "currently limited" reporting by companies on how they manage their workforces and the consequences of this lack of transparency for long-term investors, such as pension funds.

It says better corporate reporting on the gender pay gap will provide an insight into whether companies are making full use of the talent available to them.

For example, a significant gender pay gap may be a driver of high turnover or poor morale – which would be a concern to long-term investors.

NAPF chief executive Joanne Segars, said: "We applaud the companies that have already chosen to be more transparent when reporting about the gender pay gap but they are still in minority.

"Many firms still fail to provide any meaningful data on this issue and so fail to assure investors and customers alike that this topic is being taken seriously."

The NAPF's stance is that a clearer line of sight is needed into how a company's workforce is composed, nurtured and motivated.

It also believes closing the gender pay gap would be of benefit to investors as well as society as a whole.

Segars said: "Government requirements for companies to report on the gender pay gap should form part of a drive to improve the quality of corporate reporting on the wider issue of the workforce."

Meanwhile, new figures from the Department for Work and Pensions have revealed that of the first 2.1million people to claim the new 'single tier' state pension, just 80,000 are women.

The Coalition unveiled a new flat-rate pension, to be introduced in April 2016 and ministers claimed the GBP 148 a week would end inequality.

However, latest figures show around 2.4million people are set to miss out on the full rate of the new state pension in its first 10 years, the majority of which will be women.

In the first year, around 405,000 people are expected to claim and 20,000 women will get the full amount compared to 130,000 men.

The discrepancy is due in part to an increase in women's state pension age, which is rising to be in line with men's by 2018.

It is also due to the complicated system which enables some workers to qualify for bigger payouts than others.

First published 10.09.2015

Lindsay.sharman@wilmingtonplc.com