New research by HR and payroll software provider Ciphr has found that two-thirds of UK jobs with a predominantly female workforce have gender pay gaps in favour of men.
Ciphr’s gender pay gap study, based on the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), found that most (70 per cent) female-dominated occupations, with workforces of over 50,000 full- and part-time employees, have a gender pay gap.
Just 3 per cent of occupational roles held by a greater proportion of women than men (60 per cent or more vs 40 per cent or less) have no gender pay gaps, while a quarter (27 per cent) have pay gaps that favour women.
Some of the jobs with the largest numbers of workers and median gender pay gaps of 10 per cent or more include office managers, solicitors and lawyers, marketing and commercial managers, and financial accounts managers. Around 380,700 women hold these roles (compared to 206,800 men) yet their gender pay gaps range from 13.4 per cent to 18.4 per cent in favour of men. This means that men in these types of roles earn more per hour, on average, than their female peers doing similar work.
Other jobs with big gender pay gaps include residential, day and domiciliary care managers and proprietors (including care home owners, community centre managers, and welfare housing managers), and other educational professionals (roles in this group include bursars, university administrators, moderators, academic tutors, and HE learning support officers). The average gender pay gaps for these occupational groups are 14.8 per cent and 14.4 per cent respectively.
Notably, there’s even a 4.7 per cent gender pay gap for women working as office administrators and clerical/admin assistants, despite 78 per cent of the workforce being women. It’s the third-most common job type filled by women, after care workers (and home carers) and sales and retail assistants, with nearly half a million (452,800) female employees.
Hourly pay disparities like these (the average gender pay gap for all workers is currently 13.1 per cent in favour of men) can add up over women’s working lives – potentially leading to gender pay differences of thousands of pounds, as well as impacting their final pension savings.
Unsurprisingly – given that three-quarters of all jobs have a gender pay gap in 2024, according to Ciphr’s analysis – this disappointing trend of women earning less per hour, on average, than men, is also repeated across most (82 per cent) job roles that are predominantly held by men. And 85 per cent of the roles that have relatively gender-balanced workforces too.
Claire Williams, chief people and operations officer at Ciphr, says: “The UK’s stubbornly high, double-digit (13.1 per cent) gender pay gap reflects systemic issues that cannot be ignored. It’s not just a matter of fairness – it’s a matter of equity, engagement, and trust in the workplace. Employers must do more to uncover and address the root causes of these disparities, from recruitment practices to career progression and salary review processes.
“Even organisations that don’t yet meet the threshold to report on their gender pay gap should conduct annual gender pay gap and DEIB reports,” she says. “This ensures they have an in-depth understanding of any gaps and know where they need to focus efforts to improve them as a priority. By taking concrete, measurable actions, employers can begin to close the gap and create a workplace that truly values and rewards talent equally, regardless of gender.”
