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The gender pay gap in the UK
Measuring differences between men’s and women’s earnings, presents estimates from ASHE, the LFS and the NES panel data set
Author: Debra Leaker
Economic & Labour Market Review, vol 2, no 4, pp 19-24. ISSN: 1751-8334
The gender pay gap is a measure of the difference between the earnings of men and women. This article presents estimates of the gender pay gap from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, the Labour Force Survey and the New Earnings Survey panel data set. It examines how different personal and labour market characteristics influence the earnings of men and women. The results show that the gender pay gap of full-time employees has narrowed since the introduction of the Equal Pay Act in 1975. However, the gender pay gap varies depending on an individual’s circumstances. For example, the number of dependent children, company size and type of occupation are major factors in the difference between men and women’s earnings.