TUC: Gender pay gap means women in South West work two months for free

- The gender pay gap: The overall gender pay gap is calculated using all median hourly pay, excluding overtime, for all male and female employees using the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) data. The gender pay gap percentage (14.3% in the latest ASHE data) is then translated into days.
The latest ASHE data is available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/bulletins/annualsurveyofhoursandearnings/2023
- Gender pay gap data is taken from ASHE, which does not provide a breakdown by ethnicity or disability status. Previous analysis by the TUC, based on Labour Force Survey data, has looked at the disability pay gap and how it intersects with the gender pay gap: https://www.tuc.org.uk/research-analysis/reports/jobs-and-pay-monitor-disabled-workers-23

- Women’s pay day by region, source ONS ASHE, 2023.

NB: Scotland and Northern Ireland have the same number of days worked for free, but different pay day dates. This is because of rounding.

- Amount of time to close the gender pay gap: Over the past five years, the gender pay gap has fallen by an average of just 0.7 percentage points a year. At this current rate of progress, it will take 20 years, until 2044, to achieve pay parity between men and women: https://www.tuc.org.uk/news/gender-pay-gap-will-take-decades-close-says-tuc#:~:text=%2D%20Gender%20pay%20gap%3A%20The%20gender,not%20be%20closed%20until%202044

- Women’s Pay Day 2023: Last year the gender pay gap for all employees was 14.9% so women’s pay day fell on Thursday 23 February 2023.
- Gender pay gap reporting:  From 1 April 2017, the government ruled that large companies must publish information about the difference between average male and female earnings. The TUC believes the government must go further and wants employers to be made to carry out equal pay audits, and to produce and implement action plans to close the pay gap in their workplace. The TUC also wants companies that fail to comply with the law to receive instant fines. 
- Disability pay gap: Analysis published by the TUC in November revealed that non-disabled men are paid on average 30% (£3.73 an hour, £130.55 a week, or £6,780 a year) more than disabled women: https://www.tuc.org.uk/news/tuc-slams-zero-progress-disability-pay-gap-last-decade
- Labour’s New Deal for Working People: Labour has pledged to deliver new rights for working people in an employment bill in its first 100 days. The TUC says that Labour’s New Deal would be transformative for working people. Amongst other rights, it would:

• Introduce mandatory action plans for gender pay gap reporting – and extend reporting to disability and ethnicity pay gap reporting.
• Give all workers day one rights on the job. Labour will scrap qualifying time for basic rights, such as unfair dismissal, sick pay, and parental leave.
• Ban zero-hours contracts to help end the scourge of insecure work.
• Strengthen flexible working rights by introducing a day one right to work flexibly. Strengthen collective bargaining by introducing fair pay agreements to boost pay and conditions – starting in social care.

- The TUC’s gender pay gap: Information about the TUC’s pay gaps is available at: https://www.tuc.org.uk/tucs-ethnicity-and-gender-pay-gap-2022
- The Trades Union Congress (TUC) exists to make the working world a better place for everyone. We bring together more than 5.5 million working people who make up our 49 member unions. We support unions to grow and thrive, and we stand up for everyone who works for a living.

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