What it means: how much less women earn per hour than men, comparing the typical (median) hourly pay of all employees, excluding overtime. It reflects differences in the jobs, hours and seniority of men and women as well as any unequal pay for the same work, which is illegal. The gap among all employees is larger than among full-time staff because more women work part time, where hourly pay is lower. The solid line is all employees, the fainter line full-time employees. A change of half a point or more counts.

Source: ONS, gender pay gap in the UK: 2026, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.