Statistics.gov.uk[/url]]
Hourly earnings sex differential, GB
Women continue to earn less than men in Great Britain. Since 1999 womens hourly earnings have remained at just over 80 per cent of mens earnings.
The gap between men's and women's average hourly earnings
among full-time employees narrowed between 2002 and 2003 to the lowest value since records began. In 2003 women's average hourly pay was 82 per cent of men's, compared with 81 per cent in 2002 and 79 per cent in 1993.
While average hourly pay provides a useful comparison between the earnings of men and women, it
does not necessarily indicate differences in rates of pay for comparable jobs. As well as engaging in a different mix of occupations, other variations in the working patterns of men and women can affect pay, such as the length of time they have been in their jobs.
Women with children are less likely to be in work and more likely to work part time than those without children (see 'Work and Families') and this influences the proportion of their total income which comes from benefits. For women below pension age and living in a couple in 2001/02, those with children received 14 per cent of their income from benefits compared with 5 per cent for those without children.
The proportion of income for men below pension age and living in a couple which comes from benefits is similar for both those with and without children, at around 3 per cent. The proportion of men's income from earnings is higher for those with children (80 per cent, compared with 72 per cent for those without children).
Single mothers were in receipt of the highest level of benefits among all people of working age in 2001/02, receiving 37 per cent of their total weekly income from benefits and 42 per cent from earnings. There are no comparable data available for single fathers.
In 2001/02 women over pension age were more likely than men to be receiving benefits and less likely to be receiving income from an occupational or personal pension, reflecting previous employment patterns and previous membership of pension schemes.
Male full-time workers are slightly
more likely to contribute to a pension scheme than female full-time workers, although membership of pension schemes has increased slightly for women in recent years compared with a slight reduction for men. The proportion of female full-time employees who had either an occupational or personal pension scheme or both increased from 63 per cent in 1998 to 65 per cent in 2001. The figures for men decreased from 71 per cent to 67 per cent over the same period.
5th-March-2006
