The median gender pay gap for full-time employees in the UK stood at 9.1% in 2017, according to analysis by The Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Its Understanding the gender pay gap in the UK report, which uses data from its Annual survey of hours and earnings (ASHE) report published in October 2017, also found that the UK’s gender pay gap fell from 10.5% in 2011 to 9.1% in 2017. Over this period, men’s full-time wages increased by 10.4%, from £13.12 an hour to £14.48 an hour. In comparison, women’s full-time wages increased by 12%, from £11.75 an hour to £13.16 an hour.
In 2017, men working full-time hours of more than 30 hours a week, or 25 or more hours a week for the teaching profession, were paid £1.32 more an hour than women. Men’s median hourly pay for full-time work was 65.4% higher than for men who worked part-time hours in 2017 while full-time female employees who earned 42.8% more than those working part-time.
Male and female chief executive and senior officials, the highest-paid group included in the analysis, earned a median hourly salary of £48.53 and £36.54 respectively last year. Among managers and directors, men received a median hourly salary of £23.69, £2.62 more than the equivalent median hourly pay for women. Men working full-time in the highest-paid occupation group (chief executives and senior officials) earned 5.3 times more than men working in the lowest-paid occupation group (elementary occupations). For female employees, this figure was 4.5 times higher in 2017.
The largest gender pay gap in 2017 was among the skilled trade occupation group, recorded at 24.8%. The smallest gender pay gap was 3.6% in sales and customer service occupations.
Men had the highest employment share of 92% in skilled trade occupations, compared to women who had the highest employment share in caring, leisure and other service occupations (75.6%). Between April and June 2017, the employment rate for women with dependent children was 73.7%, compared to 92.4% of comparative men. Of this group, 51.8% of women were employed in part-time roles, while 90.1% of men were in full-time roles.
Among employees who had been in the job for one year of less. the gender pay gap last year stood at 5.3% for employees. This increased to 11.9% for staff employed in the same job for 20 or more years.
The median hourly pay for male employees in full-time roles who had held the same position for more than 20 years was £18.35, equating to 59.6% more than full-time men who had been in their job for less than one year. Female employees who had been in the same job for more than 20 years earned £16.16 an hour, which is 48.4% more than women who had been in their job for less than a year.
