Women over the age of 50 in the UK earn nearly £ 8,000 a year less than men, according to a study which shows that the fall in sales during the pandemic has hit women much harder. difficult men.
A study of official data found that the average annual salary of women working full-time in their 50s was 23% less than men in the same age group, according to a report by Rest Less, a company that offers help and advice to people over 50. Women in their 60s were paid 25% less.
The study shows that a woman in full-time work earned on average just under £ 28,000 this year, compared to almost £ 34,000 for men. However, the gap was wider for those over 50 – £ 26,230 for women and £ 34,325 for men, the report said. Women over 60 earn an average of £ 23,903, while men receive £ 31,667.
Gap between average female (lower) and male (higher) annual salaries, 2020
The coronavirus outbreak has led to a series of street failures, including the collapse of the Debenhams and Arcadia regional store chain, the sales agency that comprises Topshop and Dorothy Perkins . Women tend to make up the majority of the sales workforce, including older women and part-time working mothers.
Widespread job losses in the hospitality industry have also had a disproportionate impact on women.
Stuart Lewis, founder of Rest Less, said: “Women in their 50s and 60s against double age discrimination, along with the widest gender pay gap of all ages, earn £ 8,000 less each year than their male peers. in full-time employment.
“While the state pension age is now equated at 66 per gender, decades of gender pay gap and the resulting wide gap in private pension savings means income The future retirement of men and women remains far from equal, ”he said.
“Income at the height of our 40s and declining as we enter our 50s and 60s is having a huge impact on us all and on our retirement savings plans. We cannot rely on higher salaries in the years before we retire to fund our pensions, and instead need to consider the most effective ways to save for retirement from an early age. ”
Progress in addressing the gender pay gap has been slow, and women in their mid-30s will no longer experience equal pay in their working lives unless efforts to close the gap will be reduced, according to a recent separate Labor inquiry. It was unveiled on November 20 to mark Equal Pay Day, the day women stop being paid because of a gender pay gap in the UK.