According to analysis published by the TUC, 23rd February 2023 was first day of this year that the average woman in paid employment effectively stopped working for free - because of the gender pay gap.
Based on analysis of the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), women in the UK earned, on average, 14.9% less than men in 2022 - so whilst men are paid from January 1st, women will essentially work for free for the first 53 days - nearly eight weeks - of the year.
The gender pay gap is calculated using median hourly pay for all male and female employees. The median is the middle amount when all wages are listed from smallest to highest, as opposed to the mean, which is found by adding all wages together and dividing by the number of people. The ONS figure is based on hourly pay, rather than weekly or annual pay but this would give a bigger gap as on average women work fewer hours than men.
The figures also exclude overtime and bonuses - although there is evidence of larger gender pay gaps for bonuses than for regular pay - but does include part-time employees, however removing them narrows the gender pay gap to 8.3%.
The analysis shows that the widest gender pay gap is for women between the ages of 50 and 59, at 20.8% - who work the equivalent of 76 days for free, until 16th March 2023. Women aged 60 and over have a gender pay gap of 18.4% and work the equivalent of 67 days for free, until 8th March 2023.
Once a woman has children, their earnings stop rising so quickly or even fall, as they are still much more likely than fathers to be primary carers for dependent children. They therefore frequently have periods of part-time employment which stops them from advancing their careers and earnings. This is in direct contrast to men who become fathers and even experience a wage ‘bonus’, earning 22% per cent more than similar men without children who are working full-time at age 42.
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak stated:
“It’s clear that the gender pay gap widens dramatically once women become mums……And both parents need to be able to share responsibility for caring for their kids. Dads and partners need better rights to well-paid leave that they can take in their own right. Otherwise, mums will continue to take on the bulk of caring responsibilities - and continue to take the financial hit."
The longest wait for Women’s Pay Day comes in finance and insurance where the gender pay gap stands at 31.2% - the equivalent of working free for 114 days, nearly a third of the year. In education, the gender pay gap is 22.2% - the equivalent of 81 days, or more than a fifth of the year.
Paul Nowak added:
“Working women deserve equal pay. But at current rates of progress, it will take more than 20 years to close the gender pay gap.
“That's just not good enough. We can’t consign yet another generation of women to pay inequality.
“It’s clear that just publishing gender pay gaps isn’t working. Companies must be required to publish action plans to explain what steps they’ll take to close their pay gaps. And bosses who don’t comply with the law should be fined.
“The pandemic highlighted that we can do more to help women balance their caring responsibilities and work. Flexible working is key to keeping mums in jobs and is our best way of closing the gender pay gap.
“We should change the law so that all jobs are advertised with all the possible flexible options clearly stated. And all workers must have the legal right to work flexibly from their first day in a job.”
