Gender Pay Gap: 2025 Findings Show Progress, But Not Equality

The 2025 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) has once again highlighted the slow but steady progress being made toward gender pay equality, and the persistent structural challenges that remain.

While the overall median gender pay gap in the UK has fallen slightly compared with 2024, the pace of improvement has slowed, and disparities remain particularly wide in finance, professional services, and senior management roles.

What the Data Shows

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), women continue to earn, on average, less than men across most full-time occupations, with a notable 8–9% gap persisting in senior roles. This gap widens further when factoring in bonuses and variable pay, which remain disproportionately higher for men.

Younger age groups show near parity, but the gap expands sharply beyond age 40, often coinciding with career breaks for caregiving or limited opportunities for promotion after returning to work.

Why the Gap Persists

• Career interruptions and part-time work still affect progression for many women.

• Limited representation at board and executive levels continues to skew pay data.

• Pay opacity and poor reporting practices make benchmarking and accountability harder.

Despite mandatory gender pay gap reporting for larger employers, many businesses still treat the requirement as a compliance exercise rather than an opportunity to drive meaningful change.

What Employers Can Do

To make measurable progress, organisations must go beyond reporting and focus on cultural, structural, and behavioural shifts:

1. Conduct regular pay equity audits - not just annually.

2. Review promotion and recruitment data to ensure balanced opportunities.

3. Promote flexible progression models, enabling women returning from leave to access leadership pathways.

4. Encourage salary transparency, particularly in job adverts and internal benchmarking.

Closing the gap isn’t simply about compliance; it’s about talent retention, fairness, and organisational credibility.

At DCG, we help businesses interpret pay data, identify risk areas, and implement equitable pay and reward structures that align with long-term workforce strategy. Contact us today for a free, no-obligation chat on how we can support you.