The UK's gender pay gap for UK workers has widened to more than 8%, according to official figures. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that the gender pay gap is particularly stark for older people, with full-time workers aged between 40 and 49 witnessed a 10.9% pay gap, compared with 3.2% or less for those under 40.
The ONS said the difference in average earnings for full-time male and female employees struck 8.3% in April, rising from 7.7% in April 2021. However, it was down from 9% in April 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic heavily impacted the UK labour market.
David Freeman, the ONS' head of labour market and household statistics, said: “The gender pay gap is now some way below where it was before the pandemic. Although it’s up on the last two years, those figures were distorted by the effects of Covid-19, so it’s better to look at longer-term trends.”
The latest data also highlighted that the highest earning male employees still earned significantly more than the equivalent female employee. There was a 15.5% pay disparity between the highest earning male and female workers, with a 3% gap among the lowest earners.
But there were signs that the gap could be reducing in some of the highest paid roles. The largest fall in the gender pay gap for a specific job was among managers directors and senior officials, who saw the gap drop to 10.6% in 2022 from 16.3% in 2019.
The data also highlighted a significant variation in the gap across UK regions. In Northern Ireland, women actually earned more than men this year, with a 4.6% difference in their favour, while the largest gap was in the south east, where the ONS recorded a 12.5% gap in favour of male workers.
