Women apprentices earn less than male peers

Women apprentices face a gender pay gap of 6%, are more likely to be paid under the minimum amount and less likely to receive formal training, according to a new report.

The report, carried out by the UK government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, reveals that young women beginning apprenticeships face a gender pay gap that sees them paid 6% less than their male counterparts. The median basic hourly pay for a male apprentice in 2018 was £7.90, compared to £7.47 for a female apprentice. The research found the gap had almost doubled since 2016.

Researchers also found that women were more likely to be illegally paid less than the minimum wage  – 21% compared to 17% of men – and just two in five women receive formal training as part of their apprenticeship compared to three in five men.

Experts put the gap largely down to the sectors in which women choose to work which tend to be less well paid and have less career progression than, for instance, engineering-based apprenticeships which are dominated by men.

The report found that the highest-paid apprenticeships were in management (£11.44 per hour) and retail (£7.75 per hour), while the lowest were hairdressing (£3.70 per hour) and customer services (£5.70).

Minimum wage non-compliance for Level 2 and Level 3 – GCSE equivalent – hairdressing apprenticeships was highest at 47 per cent, while management courses had the lowest level of non-compliance at 7 per cent. Experts say this might not always be intentional on employers’ part.

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