Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Recruitment & retention
    • Wellbeing
    • Occupational Health
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Recruitment & retention
    • Wellbeing
    • Occupational Health
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise

Pay & benefitsSalary surveys

Women suffering “mid-life pay crisis”, according to new figures

by Jo Faragher 18 Aug 2014
by Jo Faragher 18 Aug 2014

A “mid-life pay crisis” is hitting female managers, with women earning more than one-third less than men once they hit their mid-40s.

Data compiled by XpertHR and the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) has found that women would have to work past the age of 79 to earn as much as men over a similar career.

The figures from the annual National Management Salary Survey show the current pay gap between men and women to be £9,069 per year, meaning that, on average, women earn around three-quarters of what men do in comparable jobs.

The pay gap is widest for those who have spent more than 20 years in the working world. For women between the ages of 45 and 60, and over 60, the gap is 34% and 35% respectively. In salary terms, this means they are earning £16,680 and £14,332 less per year.

The data also shows that women constitute the majority of entry-level roles, but the pipeline into senior management is less promising – they make up just 30% of directors, according to XpertHR and the CMI.

There is also a gap at senior level – while the annual percentage increases in salary for men and women across all levels was 2.3%, male directors’ salaries increased by 2.7%, compared with 1.9% for women.

Data from the National Management Salary Survey

National Management Salary Survey
(click anywhere on chart to view full size)

When bonus payments are considered, the difference between men and women at director level was almost £40,000, with men earning £199,377 compared with £159,530 for women. Their bonuses were also almost half those of men – standing at an average of £36,270 for a female director versus £63,700 for a male.

Mark Crail, head of salary surveys and HR benchmarking at XpertHR, said that the data showed women begin to fall behind in salary at an age when they are most likely to be starting a family, with no improvement when they return to work.

“It appears that employers often give up on women mid-career and are missing out on a huge pool of untapped knowledge, experience and talent,” he said.

“Traditionally, men have not had the same time out from work. The introduction of shared parental leave goes some way to addressing this disparity, but it remains to be seen whether or not men and women will share their time out on a more equal basis in future, not just for the first few months of their child’s life but as they go through school. And, if so, whether or not this encourages employers to see the potential for career advancement in all their employees – both male and female.”

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

However, there was some evidence that the imbalance may lessen over time. Annual pay awards for women outstripped those for men in three out of five of the most junior roles surveyed. And, while there is a gap between younger women’s salaries compared with their male counterparts, it is narrower, at around 6% for women aged between 20 and 25.

Ann Francke, chief executive of the CMI, said: “With the economy looking healthier than ever, it’s the perfect time for employers to take a leap forward and expand their talent pool by supporting more women to become senior managers and leaders.”

Jo Faragher

Jo Faragher has been an employment and business journalist for 20 years. She regularly contributes to Personnel Today and writes features for a number of national business and membership magazines. Jo is also the author of 'Good Work, Great Technology', published in 2022 by Clink Street Publishing, charting the relationship between effective workplace technology and productive and happy employees. She won the Willis Towers Watson HR journalist of the year award in 2015 and has been highly commended twice.

previous post
Tribunal watch: Were “religiously orientated” swear words spoken in a Christian’s presence harassment?
next post
Caste discrimination: EAT finds tribunal judge was right to halt case after police intervention

You may also like

Retirement at risk – why we all need...

17 Sep 2025

Jobs market continuing to stagnate, says official data

16 Sep 2025

Barclays Bank boss warns Reeves over public sector...

12 Sep 2025

Two in three NHS staff say pay is...

9 Sep 2025

Pay awards feeling tightest squeeze since December 2021

8 Sep 2025

Director with cancer treated unfairly over pay, rules...

5 Sep 2025

Revolut employees to receive share sale payout

2 Sep 2025

City law firm freezes junior lawyers’ pay to...

28 Aug 2025

Employee Benefits Live 2025 conference programme unveiled

21 Aug 2025

Eurostar’s Georgie Willis a keynote speaker at Employee...

19 Aug 2025

  • Workplace health benefits need to be simplified SPONSORED | Long-term sickness...Read more
  • Work smart – stay well: Avoid unnecessary pain with centred ergonomics SPONSORED | If you often notice...Read more
  • Elevate your L&D strategy at the World of Learning 2025 SPONSORED | This October...Read more
  • How to employ a global workforce from the UK (webinar) WEBINAR | With an unpredictable...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits Live
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Recruitment & retention
    • Wellbeing
    • Occupational Health
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise