Age and Part Time Working
The age distributions are similar for both men and women, as shown in Figure 13, but there is a higher percentage of women under 40, compared to the distribution of men.
This may provide a reason as to why women are primarily in the lower pay quartiles, as they may not yet have the experience required for higher paid roles. However, when individuals over the age of 40 are excluded from the calculation, the gender pay gap reduces to 5.6% so this is not solely responsible for the global differences in pay.
Age
Pay quartile
Figure 13
Figure 14
Employees over 50 are mainly men, but as these employees approach retirement and more gender-balanced recruitment continues, this will likely increase the percentage of staff who are women and who would ultimately (assuming equitable promotion) increase the proportion of women promoted into more senior roles.
Figure 14 shows that men in quartile 4 are those most likely to work part time, compared to quartile 3 for women. When looking at the age distribution of part time workers in Figure 15, it suggests that this may be because men predominantly work part time towards the end of their career as they approach retirement. Women predominantly work part time mid-career, which may be to support childcare or fulfil other caring responsibilities.
Age of part time staff
