Salary gaps… never thought they were so wide!

Women don’t earn more than men op.

Key 2025 Gender Pay Gap Data (Median Hourly Earnings):

• All Employees: 12.8% (in favor of men).
• Full-time Employees: 6.9% (in favor of men).
• Part-time Employees: -2.9% (in favor of women, as women earn more per hour on average in part-time roles).
• Key Drivers: The gap is driven by, among other things, women's overrepresentation in part-time work, lower-paid occupations, and the "motherhood penalty" or time taken out of the workforce for caregiving.
• Office for National Statistics
• +4

• Sector Differences: In 2025, the gender pay gap for full-time workers is 12.5% in the private sector compared to 8.8% in the public sector.
• Age Factor: There is little to no pay gap for full-time employees under 40, but a significant gap emerges and widens for those aged 40 and over.
• Progression: The gender pay gap has been falling since records began in 1997, when it was 27.5% for all workers.
• The House of Commons Library
• +3

• 94% of jobs with over 200,000 full-time employees in the UK have a gender pay gap in favor of men.
• Significant gaps remain in sectors like Finance, where median hourly pay for women is lower than men.
• Ciphr

• Low Pay: 16.8% of jobs held by women are paid below the real Living Wage, compared to 12.3% of jobs held by men.
• Bonuses: The mean bonus gap for 2025 is 5.5%, showing a decrease from previous years.

That's a bit more female higher earners than I'd have guessed which is great, the more that's normalised the better for workplaces I think.

I expect the amounts are very skewed by people that don't work or work very little. Depending on husband's self employed income and my bonus the gap between our earnings can be up to £200k and thats not anywhere near the top end of disparities. All those bankers/ law firm equity partners on million pounds plus with non earning spouses will be distorting the averages is have thought.

The average gap is going to be huge when one partner takes a big chunk of time out and generally carries a whole extra job on top. Certainly in my house the gap is huge. My DC couldn’t go to the local school. I had a health crisis.

The gap will only be small if the partners have the same aptitude AND the same opportunities. As soon as one partner’s focus is not on career progression, there will be a big gap.

1 in 4 marriages having a higher earning female sounds about right given the usual impacts for women around raising families and a myriad of other societal factors.

But am REALLY surprised that the average gap is £32k! Would have thought it would be single figures. Where is that data from? Is it skewed by non earners and it’s a mode average so it’s lots of people earning average salary where partner earns nothing?

I wonder what the average gap is for two working parents?

But your situation is uncommon. 77% of men then have the higher income. I'm really tired and am not sure I have read the op right!

Isn't she?

Thought the OP was saying her salary was 2x or 3x her husbands… I think the higher you go the more money you get as there is a scarcity of skills but with AI does some of this change?

Not surprising at all given many women sacrifice their own careers to raise children - even if remain working they often drop hours to fit around school run or spend more time with young DC before they go to school. They often can’t stay late as have DC to collect, and don’t push towards promotions as they already have a lot on their plate. Their second shift starts when they get home from work.

Whereas many men turn up at home whenever they feel like it, kids bathed and ready for bed and dinner on the table.