New research suggests that the gender pay gap is forecast to close to its lowest ever level of 11.9 by 2025, equivalent to a percentage difference of 13.5% in favour of men.
The Global Payroll Association (GPA) has analysed the changing gender pay gap based on average earnings for men and women* in the UK over the past decade before forecasting what it is likely to look like by 2025.
In the UK, the gender pay gap is calculated as the difference between average hourly earnings, excluding overtime, of men and women as a proportion of men’s average hourly earnings. It is a measure across all jobs, not just the difference between men and women doing the same job. The gap is stated as a number (eg, 10.2), and the smaller the number, the smaller the gap between men’s and women’s average earnings.
GPA’s data analysis reveals that in 2013, the average hourly wage for a male employee was £16.52. In the same year, the average wage for a female employee was £13.36 per hour. This is a difference of £3.16, or 23.7%, which equates to a gender pay gap of 19.1.
In the years since, the gap has gradually closed, and by 2013 it stood at 13.2. This was based on an average hourly wage of £21.31 for men, and £18.49 for women – a difference of £2.82 or 15.3%.
Using this decade of earnings data, GPA has forecasted how the gender pay gap could look by the end of 2024 and then into 2025.
By the end of this year, it is estimated that the year’s average hourly earnings for men will stand at £21.81 while for women it will be £19.11. This will mark a difference of £2.70 or 14.1%, creating a gender pay gap of 12.4.
By 2025, the gap is forecast to have closed even further. Men are estimated to earn an average of £22.30 per hour, compared to women’s average earnings of £19.64. This will mark a difference of £2.66 or 13.5%, marking a gender pay gap of 11.9 in favour of men.
Melanie Pizzey, CEO and Founder of the Global Payroll Association, said:
“We should all obviously be pleased that the gender pay gap is getting smaller and forecast to continue shrinking in the coming years. But let’s be honest, it’s happening very slowly and there is absolutely no good reason for any gap to exist at all.
“Employers have a real responsibility to make sure that the gender pay gap is eliminated as quickly as possible by paying women and men in the same roles the same amount of money. It is not complicated, and it’s not difficult. Let’s just get it done.”
