Amy: 0:04

Hello and welcome once more to the Bench Report, where we discuss recent debates from the benches of the UK Parliament, a new topic every episode. You're listening to Amy and Ivan. Today we are taking a close look at the UK gender pay gap using the uh detailed data released by the ONS in November 2025. And the main headline figure you need to know is this. For all employees in the UK, median hourly pay in April 2025 was 12.8% less for women than it was for men.

Ivan: 0:32

And it's probably worth clarifying what that 12.8% actually means before we go any further.

Amy: 0:37

Absolutely.

Ivan: 0:38

We're talking about the difference in median hourly earnings, includes overtime. And using the median is key. It gives you the typical employees' experience and it avoids the data being skewed by a few, you know, exceptionally high earners at the very top.

Amy: 0:49

Okay, so let's unpack that 12.8% figure because it hides a really incredible contradiction when you look closer. If we only look at full-time work, for instance, the gap shrinks to 6.9%.

Ivan: 0:59

But then you look at part-time work.

Amy: 1:01

And it completely flips. Women's medium pay was actually 2.9% higher than men's. That reversal is just it's startling.

Ivan: 1:08

It is. And that's what we call the part-time paradox. It's the single most critical driver of that overall 12.8% gap.

Amy: 1:16

So what's happening there?

Ivan: 1:18

Well, it's about concentration. Women are far, far more likely to be in part-time roles. We're talking 34% of female employees compared to just 13% of men. And because part-time jobs generally pay less per hour overall, that concentration just pulls the entire female median wage down significantly.

Amy: 1:37

And you see this reflected in the data on age as well, don't you? Aaron Ross Powell, Jr.

Ivan: 1:41

You do. For full-time employees in their 20s and 30s, there's practically no difference in pay.

Amy: 1:45

But then something changes.

Ivan: 1:47

Precisely. The moment people enter their forties, a substantial gap opens up among full-time employees. And that timing points directly towards one thing Parenthood. Yes.

Amy: 1:56

Which uh brings us to the Institute for Fiscal Studies analysis. Their conclusion is that most of the long-term pay gap can be traced back to what they call child penalties.

Ivan: 2:04

And by child penalties they mean the financial and career costs that mothers tend to incur, but fathers, well, typically do not.

Amy: 2:11

So men's earnings are basically unaffected.

Ivan: 2:13

Virtually unaffected. But women's earnings fall sharply after having children. The IFS data on this is um it's quite stark.

Amy: 2:22

How stark are we talking?

Ivan: 2:23

Seven years after the birth of the first child, women's earnings are, on average, less than half of men's.

Amy: 2:29

Less than half? That's a staggering figure.

Ivan: 2:32

It is. And about half of that growing gap between mothers and fathers is explained simply by mothers spending less time in full-time work.

Amy: 2:40

Now, that's the individual story, but how much does this vary depending on where you live or the kind of industry you're in?

Ivan: 2:45

Oh, it varies dramatically. The full-time pay gap in the Southeast is up at 11.0%.

Amy: 2:50

And in Northern Ireland.

Ivan: 2:51

It's just 1.1%. And then you look at different sectors. The financial and insurance industry has a huge gap, 22.3 percent.

Amy: 2:57

Much wider than the public sector.

Ivan: 2:59

Much wider. The public sector gap is narrower at 8.8% compared to the private sector's 12.5%.

Amy: 3:05

Now, since 2017, large employers have had to report their own data.

Ivan: 3:09

They have, yes. For companies with 250 or more employees.

Amy: 3:13

And those reports showed that in 78% of those businesses, men's median pay was higher than women's. But what really stands out is what happens at the very top of the pay scale.

Ivan: 3:23

That's where the barriers become most visible. You look at the lowest earners, say the 10th percentile, the gap was only 1.8%. Very small.

Amy: 3:32

But at the top.

Ivan: 3:33

At the top, for the highest earners in the 90th percentile, the full-time gap was a substantial 15.2%. And this is despite the fact that women's educational attainment has, you know, surged past men's.

Amy: 3:44

So given that the pay gap for the highest earners has been the slowest to close since 1997, you might want to consider what structural barriers still exist at the top of the UK's eye paying occupations. As always, find us on social media at benchreport UK. Get in touch with any topic important to you. Remember, politics is everyone's business. Take care.