Gender pay gap ‘widest for women in their 50s’

The gender pay gap remains at its widest for Britain’s oldest workers, new research suggests

Rest Less, which offers advice to the over 50s, said there was a 24% difference between the median gross annual pay of full-time working men and women aged in their 50s, rising to a gap of 26% for those over the age of 60.

Rest Less analysed pay data from the Office of National Statistics and found that in 2022, the biggest difference in full-time pay was between men and women in their 50s.

Women aged 50-59 earned an average salary of £30,603 which was £7,274 less than men in the same age group who earned an average salary of £37,877.

Rest Less compared 2022 data with the previous 10 years and found that while the national gender pay gap across all age groups has narrowed from 24% in 2012 to 19% in 2022 – it remains at its highest for those in their 50s and 60s.

Rest Less chief executive Stuart Lewis said: “Caring responsibilities, the burden of which still falls disproportionately on women, means women can miss out on salary progression during their careers – which compounds as time goes on, widening the gender pay gap as we age.

‘This can have devastating long-term consequences on women’s retirement provision and financial independence into later life.

‘We know that there is a significant private pension savings gap between men and women and it’s no surprise when you see decades of the gender pay gap only getting worse in the run up to retirement – a time in life when people are typically trying to save as much as they possibly can into their pensions.

“Whilst the state pension age for women is now equal with men at 66, the retirement fortunes of men and women remain anything but equal.”