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Gender pay gap: Women hold just 12% of jobs paying £150,000 or more

Conservative MP Jake Berry hits out at latest indicator of wage inequality, calling UK Statistics Authority's findings 'a damning verdict'

Friday 20 January 2017 15:14 GMT

Workers in the City of London (PA)

Women hold just 12% of full-time jobs paying £150,000 or more, new figures suggest.

The UK Statistics Authority data released to Parliament highlights a drastic difference between the proportion of women and men in the country's highest-paying roles.

Campaigners and Tory MP Jake Berry hit out at the latest indicator of the gender gap at the top of the British workforce, which emerged from data dubbed the country's most comprehensive statistics on earnings.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said progress is being made to boost diversity in boardrooms, with the number of all-male boards down from 152 to nine in six years at the country's top companies.

But Mr Berry, who obtained the figures via a written parliamentary question, said it was “a disgrace” that so few women were employed in high-earning jobs.

The MP for Rossendale and Darwen added: “This is a damning verdict on the gender pay gap among the highest earners.

“The Government needs to do more to tackle this and ensure women have the opportunity to get these top jobs.

“Theresa May is one of few women in this bracket and the whole country could do with more people like her in positions to make a difference.”

The 12% estimate comes from the annual survey of hours and earnings, which is based on a 1% sample of pay records from HMRC.

UK Statistics Authority chief executive John Pullinger called the survey “the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom” in his reply to Mr Berry.

Sam Smethers, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, said: “We know that very few women make it into the highest earning senior roles.

“This in turn drives the gender pay gap, which is over 50% at senior management level.

“Until we get women to the top of organisations in significant numbers, we won't be promoting the best talent nor making the best decisions, massively holding back our productivity.”

The 2016 survey put the gender pay gap between full-time workers at 9.4%, and 18.1% between all workers given the greater number of women working part-time.

Among the highest-paid quarter of full-time employees, the gender pay gap was 18.8%.

The 13 highest-paying jobs with less than 40 hours per week

Show all 13

1/13The 13 highest-paying jobs with less than 40 hours per week

The 13 highest-paying jobs with less than 40 hours per week

13. Postal service clerks

Average hours typically worked a week: 39.32 Median earned income: $51,000 What they do: Perform any combination of tasks in a post office like receive letters and parcels; sell postage and revenue stamps, postal cards, and stamped envelopes; fill out and sell money orders; place mail in pigeon holes of mail racks or in bags; and examine mail for correct postage.

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The 13 highest-paying jobs with less than 40 hours per week

12. Speech-language pathologists

Average hours typically worked a week: 36.17 Median earned income: $54,000 What they do: Assess and treat persons with speech, language, voice, and fluency disorders.

The 13 highest-paying jobs with less than 40 hours per week

11. Registered nurses

Average hours typically worked a week: 37.59 Median earned income: $56,000 What they do: Assess patient health problems and needs, develop and implement nursing-care plans, and maintain medical records.

The 13 highest-paying jobs with less than 40 hours per week

10. Psychologists

Average hours typically worked a week: 36.75 Median earned income: $56,000 What they do: Diagnose or evaluate mental and emotional disorders of individuals through observations, interviews, and psychological tests and formulate and administer programs of treatment.

The 13 highest-paying jobs with less than 40 hours per week

9. Chiropractors

Average hours typically worked a week: 39.75 Median earned income: $60,000 What they do: Assess, treat, and care for patients by manipulation of spine and musculoskeletal system.

The 13 highest-paying jobs with less than 40 hours per week

8. Occupational therapists

Average hours typically worked a week: 36.02 Median earned income: $60,000 What they do: Provide rehabilitative treatments and procedures that help build or restore vocational, homemaking, and daily living skills.

The 13 highest-paying jobs with less than 40 hours per week

7. Technical writers

Average hours typically worked a week: 39.61 Median earned income: $62,000 What they do: Write technical materials, such as equipment manuals, appendices, or operating and maintenance instructions.

The 13 highest-paying jobs with less than 40 hours per week

6. Physical therapists

Average hours typically worked a week: 37.43 Median earned income: $63,000 What they do: Assess, plan, organise, and participate in rehabilitative programs that improve mobility, relieve pain, increase strength, and improve or correct disabling conditions resulting from disease or injury.

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The 13 highest-paying jobs with less than 40 hours per week

5. Audiologists

Average hours typically worked a week: 37.77 Median earned income: $64,000 What they do: Assess and treat people with hearing and related disorders.

The 13 highest-paying jobs with less than 40 hours per week

4. Radiation therapists

Average hours typically worked a week: 38.40 Median earned income: $70,000 What they do: Provide radiation therapy to patients as prescribed by a radiologist according to established practices and standards.

The 13 highest-paying jobs with less than 40 hours per week

3. Optometrists

Average hours typically worked a week: 39.03 Median earned income: $100,000 What they do: Diagnose, manage, and treat conditions and diseases of the human eye and visual system.

The 13 highest-paying jobs with less than 40 hours per week

2. Pharmacists

Average hours typically worked a week: 38.38 Median earned income: $102,000 What they do: Dispense drugs prescribed by physicians and other health practitioners and provide information to patients about medications and their use.

The 13 highest-paying jobs with less than 40 hours per week

1. Dentists

Average hours typically worked a week: 37.83 Median earned income: $130,000 What they do: Examine, diagnose, and treat diseases, injuries, and malformations of teeth and gums.

A BEIS spokeswoman said: “The boardroom must reflect modern Britain, which is why the Government asked Sir Philip Hampton and Dame Helen Alexander to examine how to improve the representation of women in the executive layer and champion continued increases in the representation of women on boards across the FTSE 350.

“We're starting to see the results of this, with women now representing 23.5% of board positions across the FTSE 350, up from 9.5% in 2011.

“There were 152 all-male boards across the FTSE 350 in 2011; now there are nine, and we are clear that companies will do better if they make better use of the talent available and increase boardroom diversity to reflect their workforces and wider society.”

A Resolution Foundation study released earlier this month found the gender pay gap for women in their 20s has halved to just 5%, but the progress will be undone in later life.

PA

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