The gender pay gap remains one of the most closely watched measures of women’s economic equality. It is often confused with unequal pay for the same role — which has been unlawful in the UK since the Equal Pay Act 1970 and is now covered by the Equality Act 2010 — but the gap measures the difference in average hourly earnings between men and women across the whole workforce. It tells us how much less women typically earn, where those losses are concentrated, and how slowly the picture is changing.
So how big is the gender pay gap today? According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) for 2024, the median gender pay gap for full-time employees in the UK stands at 7.0%. When part-time workers are included, the gap for all employees is 13.1%. Among part-time employees alone, the gap is negative: women earn slightly more than men on average, largely because men in part-time work are concentrated in lower-paid roles. Yet the overall picture is clear — women still take home less over a working lifetime.
That lifetime shortfall has serious consequences. Lower hourly pay translates into smaller pensions, reduced savings and weaker financial resilience. Women’s private pension wealth at retirement is typically far smaller than men’s — often less than half — partly because of career breaks and part-time working, but also because of the persistent earnings gap. Closing the pay gap is therefore not only a matter of fairness; it is a matter of long-term financial security.
Dispelling the ‘pay gap myth’
The gender pay gap is sometimes dismissed as a myth, or explained away by maternity leave and caring responsibilities. While those factors shape earnings, they do not account for the whole gap. The ONS data shows that even among full-time employees, men earned a median of £19.01 per hour in 2024 compared with £17.68 for women. The 7.0% gap has narrowed only gradually from 9.4% in 2015 and 17.4% in 1997.
The gap also varies sharply by sector. In 2024, financial and insurance activities recorded one of the widest gaps at 22.6%, while mining and quarrying and construction both stood above 17%. At the other end, accommodation and food service activities had a gap of just 1.9%. Even so, women are under-represented in the highest-paying roles within almost every industry, which is why seniority and occupational segregation matter as much as headline rates.
The differences in income
For women in business and leadership, the gap is especially pronounced. Women remain under-represented among business owners and in senior management, and those who do reach the top often earn less than male peers. Recent research suggests that self-employed women earn around two-fifths less than self-employed men, reflecting lower day rates, smaller contracts and a concentration in lower-turnover sectors. Supporting women-led businesses with better access to finance, networks and procurement opportunities remains essential.
The gap is present early in careers and widens with age. Among full-time employees aged 22 to 29, the gender pay gap is close to zero, but it opens sharply from the mid-thirties onwards and is largest for women in their fifties. Managerial and professional roles show persistent gaps, and bonus payments widen the divide further. In 2024, men in full-time employment received a median annual bonus of roughly £2,500, while women received around £1,500 — a difference of about £1,000 a year before other earnings are considered.
Part-time working plays a major role too. Around 41% of women in employment work part-time, compared with 14% of men. Part-time roles are not only lower paid per hour on average; they also offer fewer progression opportunities and less access to training, bonuses and pension contributions. This “part-time penalty” helps explain why the all-employee gap is nearly double the full-time figure.
In higher education, the mean gender pay gap for academic staff was around 11.6% in 2022/23, with women less likely to be promoted to the highest professorial pay bands. In science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) occupations, women are still a minority — making up only around 16.5% of the engineering workforce — and those who do enter technical fields often face slower progression and lower lifetime earnings.
It’s time for change
For women in work, the first step is to treat pay transparency as a practical tool rather than a taboo. Knowing the market rate for a role, understanding how bonuses and pay bands are set, and being ready to negotiate confidently can all help to narrow the gap at an individual level. At the same time, employers must examine their own data, publish it honestly and act on it.
Gender pay gap reporting has been mandatory since 2017 for private-sector and voluntary-sector employers with 250 or more employees, using a snapshot date of 5 April each year. Public-sector bodies report on 31 March. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) can enforce the duty, and the government has consulted on extending reporting to employers with 500 or more staff as a first step, with longer-term proposals to include businesses with 250+ employees in additional metrics such as ethnicity pay gaps. These rules do not close the gap automatically, but they make it visible — and that visibility drives accountability.
Education and enterprise policy also have a role. The Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship found that advancing women’s enterprise could add billions to the UK economy, yet women still start businesses with less capital and grow more slowly than men. Meanwhile, initiatives to increase the number of women in STEM — from apprenticeships to returner programmes — are gradually shifting the talent pipeline, although the UK still has one of the lowest proportions of female engineers in Europe.
Real progress will require a combination of transparent pay practices, affordable childcare, flexible working as a default, and targeted support for women entrepreneurs. Until then, the gender pay gap will remain a measurable reminder that women’s work is still valued less than men’s — and a clear target for change.
