Meaning & use
pay parity
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Meaning
noununcountable
The state of two or more groups of workers receiving the same pay for work of equal value.
Grammar: Uncountable; used with 'between' or 'with' to name the groups being compared.
Patterns
- pay parity between A and B
- pay parity with someone
- achieve pay parity
The company has not yet achieved pay parity between its male and female engineers.
Union leaders are demanding pay parity with workers in similar industries.
Despite new laws, pay parity remains a distant goal in many sectors.
Common combinations
- achieve pay parity
- The firm hopes to achieve pay parity within five years.
- pay parity between men and women
- Pay parity between men and women is still an issue in many countries.
- pay parity with
- Nurses are asking for pay parity with other public-sector professionals.
- gender pay parity
- Gender pay parity has improved slightly since the new policy was introduced.
Synonyms and how they differ
- equal pay
- A more general term for the same idea; 'pay parity' often implies a specific comparison between groups or roles.
- salary equality
- Focuses on salaries rather than all forms of pay, and is less common in everyday business English.
Opposites
Word family
- parity noun
- The state of being equal, especially in status or pay.
Commonly confused: pay parity or pay equity?
pay parity vs pay equity
'Pay equity' often refers to fair pay for work of comparable value, while 'pay parity' specifically means equal pay between groups.
Practice
The workers are demanding pay parity ___ employees in the private sector.
Choose one answer.
The correct preposition is 'with' when comparing one group's pay to another's. 'Pay parity to' is not used; 'of' would not show the comparison, and 'for' is not the standard preposition here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pay parity”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.