Women earn £8,400 a year less than men by the time they hit 50

13 April 2018

A new analysis of official statistics published by the TUC shows that the gender pay gap is at its widest when a woman hits 50 when the average woman working full-time will earn £8,421 a year less than the average full-time working man.

The research, which was published in advance of the gender pay reporting deadline on Wednesday 4 April, shows that women working full-time earn less than men annually at every stage of their careers from as soon as they turn 18.

• Young women: The analysis reveals that the average young woman aged 18-21 working full-time starts her career on the back foot financially, earning £1,845 less than her male peers. And this pay gap is only set to increase. Women aged 22-29 working full-time can expect to earn £2,305 less than full-time working men their age

• Women in their 40s: The gap in annual earnings more than doubles by the time women hit 40, leaping up from £3,670 a year at age 30 to £7,400 a year. The TUC believes this reflects the impact of motherhood on women’s earnings when women find they are only able to return to work in lower-paid roles or cannot progress their careers after having moved to part-time employment

• Women in their 50s: The pay gap widens further for women in their 50s, hitting £8,421 a year, as the longer-term impacts of getting stuck in lower paid work with few promotion prospects are felt and caring responsibilities – including for older relatives – continue to have an effect

 

Read the full press release from the TUC.

The CIPP offers a half day training course on gender pay gap reporting, this course is also available online.  Click here to book or find out more.

• Gender pay gap (GPG)