U.K. companies are struggling to shrink the gender pay gap, with the differential barely changed in the five years that firms have been forced to disclose the data.
Men were paid a median of 9.7% more than women last year, compared with 10% in 2020, according to a Bloomberg News analysis of filings submitted to the government so far. The gap was 9.2% when businesses were first required to report the data in 2017.
Mining and quarrying is the industry with by far the lowest percentage of women in the top pay quartile, followed by construction.
Banking is also a laggard and it will take the financial services industry another 30 years to achieve gender parity at senior levels, according to research published by the Women in Finance Charter last month. Female entrepreneurs feel targeted by sexism, with 91% saying gender bias and inequality are prevalent, a study of more than 800 of them by insurer Simply Business found.
Note: Gap comparison only available where firms have filed under the same name both years. Companies with a pay gap greater than 95% are not represented on the chart.Companies with a pay gap greater than 70% are not represented on the chart. Companies are represented in the industry breakdown if they have provided an industry in their filings.
The figures are only a rough guide to who has the highest-paying jobs. They don’t measure the pay of men and women doing the same job, but the difference between all wages of male and female staff at a particular firm. Nor do they adjust for experience and location.
In an effort to improve pay for women, the U.K. this year announced a pilot program where salary ranges for government roles will be published on all job adverts. It’s also starting a job returners’ program to help women back into careers in science, technology, engineering and maths.
Of firms to report so far, men dominate the highest pay quartile in industries.
Bloomberg News reviewed about 10,000 filings that had been submitted by 2 p.m. in London on April 5. So far, the mean pay gap last year is running at 13.6% compared with 13.9% in 2020.
Companies with more than 250 employees in the U.K. are required to disclose their gender pay gap. Those who fail to do so can be investigated and potentially face an unlimited fine.