The gender pay gap among full-time employees narrowed to 7 percent in April 2024, from 7.5 percent in 2023, the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have revealed.
Over the last decade the gap has reduced by around a quarter. However, the difference between remuneration for men and women is more pronounced for employees aged 40 years and over and among high earners.
ONS data showed that in April 2024, the gender pay gap was highest in skilled trades and lowest in the caring, leisure and other service occupations.
Regions in England also showed a much wider reward gap between the sexes than Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
To calculate the difference, ONS measures the gap between average hourly earnings, excluding overtime, of men and women, as a proportion of men’s average hourly earnings excluding overtime. It is a measure across all jobs in the UK rather than the difference in pay between men and women for doing the same job.
Weekly pay increases
ONS figures also showed that median weekly earnings for all full-time employees were £728 in April 2024, representing a 6 percent increase year on year in nominal terms and a 2.9 percent increase in real terms (adjusted for inflation using the consumer prices index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH)).
Median weekly earnings for full-time employees has increased for all major occupational groups, with the largest growth in the ‘caring, leisure and other service occupations’ and ‘sales and customer service occupations’ categories, which both increased by 7.7 percent compared with the previous year.
The highest growth in weekly pay was in the accommodation and food service activities industry, which increased to 9.8 percent in April 2024.
Median gross annual earnings for full-time employees were £37,430 in April 2024, compared with £35,004 in April 2023, representing a rise of 6.9 percent.
