Persisting Gender Pay Inequality persists in the UK
Unfettered Chatter:
Published: April 17, 2025
Bitchin' about money: An in-depth look at gender wage disparities that still plague the UK in 2025.
Over half a century since the Equal Pay Act of 1970, the United Kingdom is still grappling with a persistent gender pay gap. Despite comprehensive legislation and mandatory reporting requirements, the average earnings gap between the sexes persists, while legal battles and renewed public scrutiny have brought issues related to enforcement, transparency, and structural inequality to light.
COME ON, LET'S CLEAR THE AIR:
At the core of the controversy lies the frequent blending of two distinct concepts: unequal pay and the gender pay gap. Unequal pay refers to the illegal act of paying dissimilar wages to men and women for doing the same or equivalent jobs. Since the 1970 Act made it unlawful, it's unsurprising that inequality has become a thing of the past, right? Not quite.
The gender pay gap represents a broader statistical examination of earning disparities across an entire workforce. It factors in components like job segregation, caregiving responsibilities, and access to advanced roles. Tom Heys, Lewis Silkin's pay reporting leader, explains, "Equal pay is about the legal right to get the same pay for the same work. The gender pay gap is a statistical comparison of average earnings between genders, often ignoring that men and women might be performing different jobs."
EQUAL PAY V GENDER PAY GAP:
In the UK, offering equal wages for equal work is a legal entitlement. The Equality Act 2010 enshrines this principle, replacing the original 1970 Act while retaining the core provision that disparities based on sex in jobs deemed "like work," "rated as equivalent," or "of equal value" are unlawful. Employers must pay individuals the same when they are doing similar tasks, but the latter two categories can be tricky, and disputes often arise.
GETTING TO THE BOTTOM OF DISPUTES:
What exactly counts as equivalent work is often the focal point of lawsuits. Henna Elahi, senior associate at Grosvenor Law, explains the difficulties in cementing equivalence: "In cases where there is a difference in pay between a man and a woman performing the same work without gender-based reasons, the employer must demonstrate that any reasons invoked are fair under the circumstances (for instance, different experience levels or performance)." Elahi concludes, "Assessing the difference in pay can be intricate, and employers can face equal pay claims if they cannot robustly justify their reasoning."
Examples of such inner struggles can be found in English law. In February 2025, a tribunal court ruled that lead roles held by Asda's shop-floor workers (predominantly women) were of equal value to those in its distribution centers (mostly men). Similarly, in August 2024, Next faced a six-year legal battle with more than 3,500 employees. The court found that the company did not adequately justify paying predominantly female retail sales staff less than its predominantly male warehouse workers.
THE NUMBERS DON'T LIE:
Regardless of occasional victories, the gender pay gap in the UK remains stubborn. According to a 2024 PwC report, the average pay gap stood at 9%, an improvement over previous years but still indicative of underlying structural inequality. If the current rate of progress continues, it could take another 30 years to eradicate the gap completely, due to factors like the slow progress of women in senior and high-paying positions, the unequal distribution of unpaid care labor, and imbalances in specific sectors like finance and engineering.
IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT THE LAW:
Enforcing mandatory pay gap reporting is a cornerstone of the UK's strategy to address the inequity. Since 2017, employers with 250+ employees have been required to publish annual data on pay disparities between genders. The data must include mean and median hourly pay gaps, bonus pay gaps, and the proportion of men and women in each pay quartile. Despite the aim of enhancing transparency and accountability, the reporting requirement is little more than a data-gathering exercise and does not require employers to explain or rectify identified disparities. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for ensuring compliance, but critics argue that its limited resources and authority make it ineffective at significantly addressing persistent offenders.
Additionally, the reporting threshold of 250 employees excludes a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises, where gender-based disparities may also be prevalent. To combat this, advocacy groups call for the threshold to be lowered to 50 employees, and additional obligations to be imposed on employers, such as mandatory action plans to address pay gaps and penalties for non-compliance.
Government departments, political leaders of all stripes, trade unions, and equality organizations continue to push for reform. Their demands include stronger enforcement mechanisms, better EHRC resourcing, and a cultural shift that prioritizes equality in both public and private employment practices.
So there you have it, folks. While legal milestones provide the backbone, a continuous cultural and industrial effort is needed to close the gender pay gap in the UK. As Heys succinctly puts it: "Equal pay reporting is very lightly enforced under the current system, with the EHRC lacking both resources and legal power to do much more than send sternly written warning letters."
- The gender pay gap persists in the UK, despite the Equal Pay Act of 1970 and mandatory reporting requirements, raising questions about enforcement, transparency, and structural inequality.
- Tom Heys, Lewis Silkin's pay reporting leader, clarifies that equal pay is about receiving the same salary for the same work, while the gender pay gap is a statistical comparison of average earnings between genders, often disregarding differences in job roles.
- Employers in the UK must pay individuals the same wage for similar tasks according to the Equality Act 2010, but assessing equivalence can be complex, leading to lawsuits.
- In 2025, a tribunal court ruled that lead roles held by primarily women at Asda were of equal value to those in its distribution centers predominantly manned by men.
- Government departments, political leaders, trade unions, and equality organizations are advocating for stronger enforcement mechanisms, better resourcing for the Equality and Human Rights Commission, and a cultural shift prioritizing equality in employment practices.
- Advocacy groups are calling for lowering the reporting threshold from 250 employees to 50 and for additional obligations on employers, such as mandatory action plans to address pay gaps and penalties for non-compliance.
- The persistence of the gender pay gap in the UK necessitates continuous cultural and industrial efforts to ensure equality in the workplace, as well as targeted policy-and-legislation and general-news coverage to address the issue effectively.
