The median hourly gender pay gap for full-time employees is 9.1 per cent, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
In 2017, men on average were earning £1.32 more an hour than women, which, as a proportion of men’s pay, is a gap of 9.1 per cent. However, this gap has fallen since 2011 when it stood at 10.5 per cent.
The analysis, which uses Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) data, also revealed that the narrowing of the gap can be partly attributed to women’s earnings growing at a faster rate than men’s. Between 2011 and 2017, men’s pay has grown by 10.4 per cent from £13.12 to £14.48 per hour, while women’s pay has grown by 12 per cent from £11.75 to £13.16 per hour.
Despite this narrowing, the gender pay gap is still in favour of men in all occupations, although the report notes that occupational crowding has an effect since those occupations with the smallest pay gap have almost equal employment shares between the sexes.
When age is taken into account, the gap for full-time workers remains small at younger ages; however, from age 40 onwards the gaps widens, reaching a peak between age 50 to 59.
The report concludes: ‘Several factors affect men’s and women’s pay and thus the gender pay gap. From the ones analysed in this article, we found that occupation has the largest impact.’
‘We consider our work has added to the existing research regarding the gender pay gap by showing experimental results using regression techniques. We would welcome any feedback you have regarding this article, particularly on any areas you would like to see developed further.’
