The UK’s gender pay gap is still very much alive and well according to the latest figures – although it is below the pre-pandemic figure.
The average pay disparity between male and female UK workers has stretched to more than 8% according to The Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The ONS revealed that this is up from 7.7% in April 2021, although it is down from 9% in April 2019.
The stats show that the gender pay gap is at its most between the highest earning male employees and their female equivalents – an eye-watering 15.5% difference in pay.
However, that gap fell dramatically to a 3% gap among the lowest earners.
It’s not all bad news for high earning women – the gender pay gap between male and female managers, directors and senior officials, has dropped to 10.6% in 2022 from 16.3% in 2019 – although there’s still a long way to go to pay equality.
Gender pay gap differences across the UK
It’s great news if you live Northern Ireland, as the latest data from the ONS shows that actually, women there earned more than men this year with a 4.6% difference.
Scotland came in second, but men there still earned on average 3.7% more than their female counterparts.
However, the largest gender gap in earnings was in South East England, where the ONS revealed a 12.5% in favour of male workers.
London recorded a 11.2% gender pay gap while North East England saw a 5.8% difference in earnings.