Why has the gender pay gap grown over the last two years?

Society signals the value it places on occupations through pay above all else, and caring continues to be the least valued – yet the most critical, writes Ian Hamilton

Not only are most nurses earning modest salaries, there is also little hope of this changing even with the current threat of industrial action (Getty)

Despite calls for parity in pay for men and women, it seems this remains an ambition rather than a reality. New data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) confirmed that the difference between what men and women are paid has grown over the last year.

In April 2021, the gap was 7.7 per cent but over the last year, this grew to 8.3 per cent. The ONS suggests that some of this increase can be accounted for by the impact of Covid-19 on the labour market. They recommend examining the longer-term trend rather than comparing these two years. This shows the gap in pay is narrowing – but at a sluggish rate, which is hardly anything to be celebrating in 2022.

As with all data of this size, the headline can hide what is happening to specific groups of women. Age is a useful example. Here, those aged between 40 and 49 experienced a pay difference of 10.9 per cent. We can compare this to women aged under 40 where the gap is much lower, at 3.2 per cent.