The characters in Absolutely Fabulous, the public relations sitcom starring Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley, could be closer to the truth than even a jaundiced journalist might have thought. A survey of PR professionals published yesterday disclosed that women earn more, drink more and smoke more than their male counterparts.
The survey from the industry trade magazine PRWeek found that from account executive to board director level, women consistently earn more than men doing the same job.
The differential is greatest at middle management level where a female account manager's average salary of £32,500 is 30% higher than that of the average male account manager.
Men in the industry are also struggling to close the gap. The average pay rise for women in PR consultancies over the past year was 11.8% compared to 10.6% for men.
PRWeek editor Kate Nicholas said, however, it was not all good news for women. "The glass ceiling is still far from being completely shattered," she said. "There is still a trend for public relations officers of both sexes to train in agencies and then move on to cosier in-house roles with more comprehensive benefits packages. But women who go down this route may well be in for a nasty surprise as pay disparity is alive and well in PR departments in both the private and public sectors."
The survey found that women in the industry spend more time in the pub and eating out than men. The one thing that PR men can be found doing more of is sitting in front of their PCs surfing the internet.
At account executive level, women earn an average £26,100 compared to £21,300 for men while account directors earn £37,800 and £34,300.