New Study Finds The Gender Pay Gap Fell To Almost Zero In 2020 For Employees Under 40

A new study done by GoSimpleTax has revealed that in 2020, the Gender Pay Gap for full-time employees under 40 years old fell to almost zero. For full-time employees over 40, the gender pay gap remained at over 10%.

Specifically:
Ages 40-49: 11.2%
Ages 50-59: 12.8%
Over 60: 13%
The construction and finance and insurance sectors revealed the largest pay gap overall, with 23% and 22% respectively.

Although no sector pays women more than men on average, accommodation and food services female employees earn just 1% less than their male counterparts, while those working in health and social care earn 1.3% less. This is likely due to flat pay rates used in those industries.

While the COVID-19 pandemic and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, had a significant impact on the labour market and hours worked, it appears to have had little effect on the gender pay gap:

11.2% of ALL employees were furloughed in April 2020 and had their pay reduced.
In comparison, 12.5% of men and 10% of women were furloughed.

The study also revealed some interesting statistics about how the gender pay gap affects the freelance industry, including that self-employed men on average earn 43% more than self-employed women.