State’s gender pay gap was 9.6% last year, CSO finds

The gender pay gap in the Republic was 9.6 per cent last year, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO). The agency’s latest “structure of earnings” survey indicated the mean hourly earnings for males in 2022 were €27.73 compared to €25.06 for females.

The pay differential between men and women in the State is said to be narrowing but different reports based on different methodologies make year-on-year comparisons difficult.

Eurostat figures for 2021 put the gender pay gap in the Republic at 11.3 per cent but those figures did not include the public sector or small firms with up to nine employees. Separate CSO figures indicated the gap was close to 13 per cent back in 2013.

The pandemic triggered greater female participation in the Irish labour market and greater participation in better paying sectors such as finance and information technology, which has also led to a narrowing of the gap.

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The CSO cautioned that its figures were calculated as the difference between the average gross hourly earnings of male and female paid employees, which differed significantly depending on economic sector, firm size, length of service, public/private status, full-time/part-time status, occupation, education, age, nationality and region.

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“It is a measure across all jobs and characteristics in Ireland, not of the difference in pay between men and women doing the same job,” the agency said.

The economic sector with the highest gender pay gap was the financial, insurance and real estate sector at 24.7 per cent, with average hourly earnings of €41.93 for males and €31.59 for females.

The lowest gap was in the education sector at 2.7 per cent, where males earned €36.64 and females earned €35.65 on average per hour.

The CSO’s survey showed the gender pay gap was reversed in the 15-24 age group at -0.2 per cent (males and females had mean hourly earnings of €17.54 and €17.57).

The highest gender pay differential by age was in the 50-59 age group at 16.7 per cent, with mean hourly earnings at €33.03 for males and hourly earnings at €27.51 for females.

The CSO also noted that on a nationality basis the highest gender pay gap in the State was among UK nationals at 27 per cent. Male UK nationals earn €32.71 and female UK nationals earn €23.88. In comparison, the gap for Irish nationals was 7.5 per cent, with males earning €28.09 and females earning €25.98.

The CSO’s survey indicated the median (or middle value) hourly earnings – for all employees – in 2022 were €19.60. Employees in full-time work had median hourly earnings of €21.40 with 39 median paid weekly hours, while part-time workers had €15.24 with 19.3 median paid weekly hours.

The economic sector with the highest median hourly earnings was the information and communication sector at €31.97 with 39.8 median paid weekly hours. The lowest median hourly earnings were in accommodation and food services activities at €13.59 with 23.8 median paid weekly hours.

The survey also found that employees with a PhD doctorate or higher recorded the highest median hourly earnings in 2022 at €39.92, with 38.8 median paid weekly hours. The lowest median hourly earnings were recorded by employees with no formal education, at €14.73 with 36.5 median paid weekly hours.