The Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) has revealed that the UK’s gender pay gap has fallen to 7.4% this year, down 1.6% from 2019. This figure, calculated using the median hourly earnings of full-time employees in the UK, suggests that women in general currently earn 92.6% of the hourly pay of their male counterparts.
The gender pay gap for full-time workers under the age of 40 was described by the ONS as being “close to zero”. In further positive news, the gender pay gap between managers, directors and senior office holders fell from 16.3% in 2019 to 9.9%, indicating that women have taken up more highly-paid managerial roles this year.
The ASHE, not to be confused with gender pay gap reporting, tracks the earnings and gender pay trends of all UK employees, rather than just those employees within organisations of more than 250 who are required to publish their pay gap under the gender pay gap reporting regulations.
While the ONS’ latest figures are largely welcomed, the ONS has suggested that the figures are “subject to more uncertainty than usual” due to the challenges it has faced in collecting data in the midst of the current pandemic.
The full report can be read here.
Subscribe and stay updated
Receive our latest blog posts by email.
