Thousands of companies to report gender pay gap under UK law

LONDON - Britain has become one of the first countries to require large companies to report pay discrepancies between male and female employees under a law that came into effect on Thursday - as part of a push to promote gender equality in the workplace.

The pay gap between British men and women is at a record low, the government said, with women earning 18 percent less than men in the United Kingdom in 2016.

Closing Britain's pay gap could add 150 billion pounds ($187 billion) to the country's annual gross domestic product by 2025, according to consulting firm McKinsey Global Institute.