Earnings
2009 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE)
Growth in median gross weekly earnings of full-time employees by sex, United Kingdom
The results of the 2009 ASHE show that median weekly pay for full-time employees in the UK grew by 2.0 per cent in the year to April 2009 to reach £489. Median earnings of full-time male employees were £531 per week in April 2009; for women the median was £426.
10 per cent of full-time employees earned more than £971 per week, while 10 per cent earned less than £271. Between April 2008 and April 2009 the distribution of gross weekly pay narrowed, with a 3.2 per cent increase at the bottom decile, and a 2.1 per cent increase at the top decile.
Median gross weekly earnings for full-time employees were highest for 40 to 49-year-olds at £551. Male employees reached their highest earnings in this age group at £606, whereas women reached their highest earnings for 30 to 39-year-olds at £498. Earnings increased until employees reached these age groups and steadily decreased thereafter.
Median full-time weekly earnings in London were £627, significantly higher than in other regions, where they ranged from £436 in the North East to £514 in the South East.
The full-time occupations with the highest earnings in 2009 were ‘Health professionals', (median pay of full-time employees of £1,031 a week), followed by ‘Corporate managers’ (£745) and ‘Science and technology professionals’ (£698). The lowest paid of all full-time employees were those in ‘Sales occupations’, at £278 a week.
The percentage difference between the median level of full-time earnings in the public sector (£539 per week) and the private sector (£465 per week) widened over the year to April 2009, following annual increases of 3.1 per cent and 1.0 per cent respectively.
Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings
Notes: Occupation data is taken from the sub-major group level of the Standard Occupational Classification 2000. 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. Annual and weekly earnings include paid overtime. The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings is based on a sample of employee jobs taken from HM Revenue & Customs PAYE records. The 2009 ASHE is based on approximately 177 thousand returns and in 2009 information was collected for the pay period that included 22 April.
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Annual Survey of Hours & Earnings (ASHE)