Member Article

Average earnings rise, say ONS

The average yearly earning of full-time workers has increased by 1.4% to £26,500.

According to the Office for National Statistics’ 2012 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, the gender pay gap closed slightly as full-time earnings for men raised 1.4% to £546, and women’s earnings raised 1.9% to £449.

Among part-time earners, the median weekly pay packet was £155. For women, part-time weekly earnings were £158, compared with £146 for men, although more women work part-time.

In a report containing the data, the ONS said: “The compositions of the public and private sectors are different. Consequently differences in gross weekly earnings do not reveal differences in rates of pay for comparable jobs.

“For example, many of the lowest paid occupations, such as bar and restaurant staff, hairdressers, elementary sales occupations and cashiers, exist primarily in the private sector, while there are a larger proportion of graduate-level and professional occupations in the public sector.”

The median full-time weekly earnings by age group showed those aged between 40-49 were the highest earners.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: “It’s encouraging to see the gender pay gap fall again this year. But it’s very worrying that with record numbers of men and women doing low paid part-time work the average hourly wage has increased by just 1p.

“The pay gap between full and part-time workers is actually getting worse. This is terrible news for the millions of people who need to work part-time to balance work and caring responsibilities, or who simply can’t find full-time jobs.

“Unless we get to grips with the lack of high quality part-time work we will never tackle in-work poverty. Today’s figures also confirm that the private sector has far wider pay disparities than the public sector, with its lowest paid staff receiving less and top staff getting far more.

“Closing the gap between top and bottom pay across the private sector is the best possible way to tackle widening inequality across the UK.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .