Gender pay gap twice as
large for women in their 50s
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The TUC analysis of the pay and jobs of women over the age
of 50 shows that despite a dramatic rise in the number of women working past
50, low pay and pensioner poverty remain major concerns for them as they
approach retirement.
A woman in her 50s working full-time currently earns £11.99
per hour - 18 per cent less per hour than a man of a similar age (£14.69). This
compares to a 10 per cent gender pay gap across the workforce as a whole.
Women in their 50s also earn less than women in their 30s (£14.17) and 40s
(£12.93).
But the TUC analysis shows that full-time earnings only tell
half the story, with half all women over 50 employed in part-time work. The
average hourly part-time wage for a woman in her 50s is just £8.53 - a third
less than the average full-time wage across the UK workforce (£12.76). The
majority of women over 50 in part-time work earn less than £10,000 a year.
The TUC analysis shows that older women have seen the
fastest jobs growth in the last two decades. In 1992, the majority of women
over 50 were not active in the labour market. Today, just 37 per cent of
females over 50 are economically inactive, while three in five are in work.
But while rising employment rates for older women is good
news, the TUC is concerned that a lack of good quality, part-time work means
that many working women are still struggling to save enough for their
retirement, despite working for longer than ever.
The analysis is the first in a series of reports for Age
Immaterial, a TUC project looking at issues facing women aged over 50 in
work, including pay, caring responsibilities, age and sex discrimination, and
health issues.
TUC General Secretary Frances O'Grady said: 'The
rising number of women over 50 in work has been the great success story of
the last two decades.
'But while more women are working for longer, low pay
remains a big problem, particularly for the millions who have been badly let
down by the pension system and who are approaching retirement with little or
no savings. Women over 50 earn nearly
a fifth less than men of the same age and the pay divide for the 1.6m older
women with part-time jobs is even starker.’
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