Pay gap between women's and men's median hourly earnings excluding overtime (employees on adult rates, pay unaffected by absence)
The gender pay gap (as measured by the median hourly pay excluding overtime) narrowed between 2008 and 2009. For full-time employees, the pay gap is 12.2 per cent, down from 12.6 per cent in 2008. For part-time employees, the gap is -2.0 per cent, compared with -3.7 per cent in 2008. The gender pay gap for all employees has decreased to 22.0 per cent from 22.5 per cent in 2008. In April 2009 hourly rates for men were £12.97 for full-timers, £7.71 for part-timers and £12.42 for all employees. For women, hourly rates were £11.39 for full-timers, £7.86 for part-timers and £9.68 for all employees.
When calculated using the mean rather than the median, women’s hourly pay was 16.4 per cent less than men's pay for full-time employees, 13.2 per cent less than men’s pay for part-time employees and 20.2 per cent less for all employees. The mean pay gaps for full-time, part-time and all employees in 2008 were 17.4 per cent, 15.2 per cent and 21.3 per cent respectively.
Based on full-time hourly earnings excluding overtime, women’s earnings increased more slowly across the bottom 10 per cent of the distribution than men’s, with a growth of 3.9 per cent compared with 4.0 per cent for their male counterparts. The hourly earnings of the top ten per cent grew by 2.9 per cent and 4.7 per cent for men and women respectively.
The scale and direction of the gender pay gap varies according to age. For instance, full-time 16-17 year-old females earned 12.6 per cent more per hour than males, but part-time females earned 1.3 per cent less than males. The largest pay gaps for full-time, part-time and all employees are in the 40-49 age-group at 18.4 per cent, 23.7 per cent and 29.5 per cent respectively.
The gender pay gap in the public sector was 11.6 per cent for full-timers, 18.3 per cent for part-timers and 21.0 per cent for all employees. In the private sector, the pay gap was 20.8 per cent for full-timers, 0.4 per cent for part-timers and 28.8 per cent for all employees.
The widest pay gaps by occupation are seen in the Skilled Trades where the gap ranges from 22.7 per cent to 31.2 per cent. The narrowest pay gaps for full-time and all employees are in Professional occupations.
Although median hourly pay provides a useful comparison between the earnings of men and women, it does not necessarily indicate differences in rates of pay for comparable jobs. Pay medians are affected by the different work patterns of men and women, such as the proportions in different occupations, their length of time in jobs and whether they work full-time or part-time.
Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings The median is the value below which 50 per cent of employees fall. Pay refers to gross pay (before tax) of full-time employees on adult rates whose pay for the survey week was unaffected by absence. The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings is based on a sample of employee jobs taken from HM Revenue and Customs records. The 2009 ASHE is based on approximately 176 thousand returns. In 2009 information was collected for the pay period that included 22 April.
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Annual Survey of Hours & Earnings (ASHE)