Gender pay gap worse among over 50s

The gender pay gap is proving hardest to shift among older workers, according to an ONS report out today.

It shows that the gender pay gap among full-time employees has changed little since 2012.

It says the full-time gender pay gap now stands at 8.9%, up from 8.6% last year, and points out that there has been a decline of only 0.6 percentage points since 2012.

The gender pay gap among all employees, including part-time workers, fell from 17.8% in 2018 to 17.3% in 2019 and continues to decline.

The figures show that the gap is proving particularly stubborn among the older age group. For age groups under 40 years, the gender pay gap for full-time employees is now close to zero while among 40- to 49-year-olds the gap (currently 11.4%) has decreased substantially over time. However, among 50- to 59- year-olds and those over 60 years, the gender pay gap is over 15% and is not declining strongly over time.

The ONS says: “One of the reasons for differences in the gender pay gap between age groups is that women over 40 years are more likely to work in lower-paid occupations and, compared with younger women, are less likely to work as managers, directors or senior officials.”

Another ONS report, out today, shows there are three times as many low paid part-time jobs as low paid full-time jobs.

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