The UK Government has announced league tables which will highlight companies that fail to address pay differences between men and women.

Companies and voluntary organisations will be required to reveal the number of men and women in each pay range to show where pay gaps are at their widest.

Average pay for men is greater than that for women.  The gap narrowed to 9.4% for full-time employees in 2015 – the lowest since records began in 1997, although the gap has changed relatively little in recent years.  The gap for all employees remained unchanged at 19.2%.

These figures do not show differences in rates of pay for comparable jobs, and are affected by, for example, the proportion of men and women in different occupations.

More women work part-time than men, leading to a larger overall pay gap

Percentage of part-time workers by sex, UK, April to June 2015

Source: Labour Force Survey

Part-time workers – both men and women – earn less, on average, per hour than their full-time counterparts.

A much higher proportion of women work part-time – 41%, compared with only 11% of men. This means that the gap for all employees –full-time and part-time together – is higher than for full-time employees alone.

But looking at part-time workers separately, men were actually paid less on average, showing a gap of -6.5%.

Since 1997 the gender pay gap has narrowed for full-time workers but widened for part-time workers

How much more men earn than women, as a percentage of men’s earnings
Based on median gross hourly earnings (excluding overtime), UK, April 2015

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A higher proportion of women work in jobs that tend to be lower paid

Another consideration for measuring the gender pay gap is that women tend to work in occupations which offer lower salaries. The size of the gender pay gap also varies between occupations.

The chart below shows a higher proportion of women than men working in sectors such as administration and caring, which tend to be lower paid.

Proportion of male and female employees in different occupational groups, UK, April to June 2015

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The gap widens significantly from age 40

When looking at the differences in pay by age group for full-time employees, the gap is relatively small up to and including those aged 30 to 39, with the exception of those aged 16 to 17.

In fact, full-time women are paid on average slightly more than men between the ages of 22 and 29.

From 40 upwards, the gap is much wider. This is likely to be connected to women taking time out of the labour market to have children.

Taking full-time and part-time employees together, for all age groups from 22 to 29 upwards, the gap is wider than for full-time employees alone. This indicates that, in these age groups, more women are working part-time in jobs that tend to be lower paid.

How much more men earn than women, as a percentage of men’s earnings, by age group
Based on median gross hourly earnings (excluding overtime), UK, April 2015

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For more information, please contact: earnings@ons.gsi.gov.uk

You can find out more about the gender pay gap in the ASHE statistical release.