The UK gender pay gap stands at 13.1% in 2026, measured using median hourly earnings for all employees. For full-time workers only, it narrows to around 7.0%. Both figures represent a significant improvement from the 17%+ gaps of the early 2010s — but progress has been slow and the gap remains stubbornly wide in certain sectors and at senior career levels.
This guide explains what the gender pay gap is, how it differs from equal pay, where it is widest, and what it means for your pay, pension and career.
For the broader salary picture, see Average Salary UK 2026. For how earnings differ across your career, see Average Salary by Age UK.
Key Facts: UK Gender Pay Gap 2026
| Measure | Gap | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Median hourly — all employees | 13.1% | Women earn 86.9p per £1 men earn |
| Median hourly — full-time only | 7.0% | Women earn 93p per £1 |
| Mean hourly — all employees | 14.3% | Mean gap is wider (high earners pull it up) |
| Mean hourly — full-time only | 8.5% | Still significant at full-time level |
| Men’s median full-time annual salary | £40,800 | — |
| Women’s median full-time annual salary | £37,950 | −7.0% |
| All-employee gap (including bonuses) | ~20%+ | Bonus payments widen the gap further |
Source: ONS Gender Pay Gap in the UK 2025, published October 2025.
Why is the full-time gap smaller than the all-employee gap? Women make up around 75% of part-time workers in the UK. Part-time roles are concentrated in lower-paying occupations and often carry a pay penalty per hour compared to full-time roles. When part-time workers are included in the calculation, the overall gap widens substantially.
The Gender Pay Gap Is Not the Same as Unequal Pay
These two concepts are frequently confused — and the distinction matters.
| Concept | What it measures | Legal status |
|---|---|---|
| Equal pay | Whether a man and woman doing equivalent work at the same employer receive the same pay | Legally required since the Equal Pay Act 1970 |
| Gender pay gap | The difference in average earnings between all men and all women across an organisation or economy | Reported under mandatory rules; not automatically illegal |
A company can have full equal pay compliance — every man and woman in the same role earning identically — and still have a large gender pay gap. This happens when women are concentrated in lower-paid roles and men dominate senior and specialist positions. The pay gap is a structural problem, not just a discrimination one.
How the Gap Has Changed Over Time
| Year | Median gap (full-time) | Median gap (all workers) |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 9.5% | 19.7% |
| 2015 | 9.4% | 19.2% |
| 2018 | 8.6% | 17.9% |
| 2020 | 7.4% | 15.5% |
| 2022 | 8.3% | 14.9% |
| 2024 | 7.2% | 13.4% |
| 2025 | 7.0% | 13.1% |
Source: ONS annual gender pay gap bulletins.
Progress has been real but gradual. The gap widened slightly in 2022, partly because the pandemic disproportionately affected sectors with high female employment (hospitality, retail, care). It has resumed its downward trajectory since, but at a slow pace. At the current rate of closure, the full-time gap would not reach zero until the 2040s.
Gender Pay Gap by Age
The gap follows a clear and predictable lifecycle pattern — small in the 20s, widening dramatically from the 30s.
| Age group | Men (median full-time) | Women (median full-time) | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22–29 | £29,000 | £27,000 | 6.9% |
| 30–39 | £40,500 | £34,500 | 14.8% |
| 40–49 | £46,000 | £36,400 | 20.9% |
| 50–59 | £44,500 | £36,100 | 18.9% |
| 60–65 | £40,200 | £34,800 | 13.4% |
Source: ONS ASHE 2025.
The widening from the 30s onwards is widely attributed to the “motherhood penalty” — the combination of career breaks, reduced hours on return, slower progression during the years when children require the most care, and the concentration of childcare costs falling on women in many households.
The 40s peak: At 40–49, the full-time gender pay gap reaches approximately 21%. Men in this age group are disproportionately represented in senior management and professional roles, while women in the same cohort are more likely to have spent time in part-time or reduced-hour roles during peak childcare years.
The narrowing at 60+: The gap shrinks in the 60s partly because lower-earning women are more likely to have already left full-time employment, leaving a relatively higher-earning subset of female workers in full-time roles.
Gender Pay Gap by Sector
The size of the gap varies significantly across industries.
| Sector | Approximate mean gender pay gap | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Finance and insurance | 35%+ (including bonus) | Highest of any sector; large bonus gap |
| Construction | 25–30% | Very low female representation in senior roles |
| Information and technology | 20–25% | Women underrepresented at senior technical levels |
| Professional services | 20–25% | Partnership structures favour longer unbroken careers |
| Manufacturing | 15–20% | Production floor vs management split |
| Education | 10–15% | More women in teaching; men in senior leadership |
| Health and social care | 8–12% | Large female workforce; gap from seniority distribution |
| Public administration | 10–14% | Structured pay scales reduce gap |
| Retail and wholesale | 8–12% | Women well-represented across levels |
| Accommodation and food | 5–10% | Lower pay floor compresses the gap |
Sources: ONS ASHE 2025, mandatory gender pay gap reporting data 2024/25.
Why is finance so high? The finance sector’s gap is driven primarily by bonuses. Many City and investment banking roles pay a significant proportion of total remuneration as discretionary bonus. Men dominate the senior roles where bonuses are largest. When only base salary is compared, the gap is smaller — but total remuneration gaps in financial services routinely exceed 40% at major investment banks.
Gender Pay Gap Reporting — What Employers Must Publish
Since April 2017, UK employers with 250 or more employees have been legally required to publish annual gender pay gap data. This covers:
- Mean and median gender pay gap (hourly pay)
- Mean and median bonus gap
- Proportion of men and women receiving a bonus
- Pay quartile distribution — the proportion of men and women in each pay quarter
The data is published on the government’s gender pay gap reporting portal. Employers must report by 4 April each year (private sector) or 30 March (public sector). There is no fine for having a large gap — the reporting obligation is about transparency, not enforcement.
How to use this data: If you want to assess your employer’s pay structure, you can search any large employer’s reported data on the government portal. The pay quartile distribution is often the most revealing figure — it shows whether women are concentrated in the lower-paid roles within the organisation.
The Bonus Gap
The gender bonus gap is consistently larger than the base pay gap and receives less public attention.
| Sector | Approximate mean bonus gap |
|---|---|
| Finance and insurance | 50–70% |
| Professional services | 40–55% |
| Technology | 30–45% |
| All sectors (mean) | ~40% |
Source: ONS and mandatory gender pay gap reporting data, 2024/25.
Women are less likely to receive a bonus at all (typically 5–15 percentage points fewer women receive bonuses than men in the same organisation), and when they do receive one, it is on average significantly smaller. This reflects two factors: women are less likely to be in senior roles where the largest bonuses are paid, and research suggests women are less likely to negotiate bonus payments proactively.
The Impact on Pensions — The Gender Pension Gap
The gender pay gap compounds over a career and creates a gender pension gap that is significantly wider than the pay gap itself.
| Measure | Estimated figure |
|---|---|
| Gender pension gap (private pension wealth) | ~37% |
| Average private pension pot — men at retirement | £205,000 |
| Average private pension pot — women at retirement | £130,000 |
| State Pension gap | Smaller, but gaps exist from NI record breaks |
Source: Pension Policy Institute and ONS Wealth and Assets Survey estimates.
The pension gap is wider than the pay gap for several reasons:
- Lower lifetime earnings mean lower total pension contributions
- Career breaks for childcare reduce both employer contributions and personal contribution periods
- Women live longer on average, meaning pension wealth must stretch further
- Historically, women were more likely to be in jobs without employer pension schemes
What to do: Women who have taken career breaks should check their State Pension forecast at gov.uk/check-state-pension. Missing NI years can sometimes be filled with voluntary contributions. During maternity leave, claiming Child Benefit — even if you intend to opt out of the payment due to the High Income Child Benefit Charge — preserves NI credits. See our guides on State Pension NI gaps and pension contributions.
Why the Gap Persists — The Key Causes
1. Occupational segregation Women are overrepresented in lower-paying sectors (care, education, hospitality, retail) and underrepresented in higher-paying ones (technology, finance, engineering, construction). This is partly historical and partly driven by social norms around career choices.
2. The motherhood penalty Salaries for men and women track relatively closely in the 20s. After the birth of a first child, women’s earnings growth slows significantly while men’s often accelerates. Women are more likely to:
- Take longer career breaks
- Return to part-time roles
- Pass on promotions requiring long hours or travel
- Shoulder the majority of unpaid childcare and household work
3. Senior underrepresentation Women hold around 38% of FTSE 100 board seats in 2026 — an improvement from 12% in 2012, but still below parity. The pay gap at board and senior executive level remains very large, pulling up the overall mean gap.
4. Pay negotiation differences Multiple studies show that women are less likely to negotiate their starting salary and less likely to ask for pay rises. When women do negotiate, they sometimes face social penalties that men do not. This creates compounding disadvantage over a career.
5. Part-time penalty Part-time roles often pay less per hour than equivalent full-time positions, even controlling for seniority. Since women make up the vast majority of part-time workers, this disproportionately suppresses women’s average earnings.
What You Can Do About the Pay Gap
Whether you are an employee, an employer, or a manager, there are practical steps available.
If you are an employee
- Check your employer’s published pay gap data on the government portal to understand the pay structure you are working within
- Ask about pay ranges — many employers now publish salary bands; knowing the range for your role is a foundation for negotiation
- Know your equal pay rights — if you suspect a male colleague is paid more for equivalent work, you can raise this formally. Discussing pay with colleagues is legally protected
- Negotiate at every transition point — job offers, pay reviews, promotions. See our guide on how to negotiate a salary
- Protect pension contributions during breaks — ask your employer whether they continue pension contributions during maternity leave (statutory minimum is yes, for the period of paid leave)
If you are an employer or manager
- Publish salary ranges internally and in job adverts
- Conduct regular equal pay audits across equivalent roles
- Implement structured pay review processes rather than relying solely on individual negotiation
- Ensure performance review criteria are objective and consistently applied
- Support flexible working arrangements and actively encourage men to use shared parental leave
Worked Example: Lifetime Earnings Impact
Scenario: Two colleagues, one male, one female, both start at £28,000 aged 22. Both follow the average salary trajectory for their gender.
| Age | Male earnings | Female earnings | Cumulative gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22–29 (8 years) | £224,000 | £208,000 | £16,000 |
| 30–39 (10 years) | £405,000 | £333,000 | £88,000 |
| 40–49 (10 years) | £460,000 | £364,000 | £184,000 |
| 50–59 (10 years) | £445,000 | £361,000 | £268,000 |
| Total lifetime (22–59) | £1,534,000 | £1,266,000 | £268,000 |
Over a career, the gap in cumulative gross earnings amounts to approximately £268,000 — before pension compound effects are factored in. This illustrates why the pension gap is proportionally wider than the annual pay gap: the compounding of lower contributions year after year produces an outsized retirement wealth gap.
Related Guides
- UK Employment Rights: Redundancy, Leave, Contracts and Workplace Protections
- Average Salary UK 2026 — national pay benchmarks
- Average Salary by Age UK — how earnings change across your career
- Average Salary by Sector UK — industry pay comparisons
- How to Negotiate a Salary — practical negotiation guidance
- How to Ask for a Pay Rise — step-by-step approach
- State Pension NI Gaps Guide — filling NI gaps from career breaks
- Pension Contributions Guide — how contributions work