As the demand for women in these professions rises, Magnet Trade’s analysis of Office for National Statistics (ONS) data and insights from The Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed (IPSE) seeks to provide a comprehensive understanding of the current state of gender pay disparity in self-employed trade professions across the UK.
Magnet Trade’s data found that, with women earning 43% less than men in self-employed jobs, estimates show that, for trade jobs, men charge £7 more an hour on average than women. In terms of the hourly rate, on average, this is £23 for self-employed men compared to £16 for women.
Across all industry trades, men earn an average of £700K more across a working lifetime compared to women.
£14k difference in pay for women
When looking at just one year, men earn £14K more compared to women in the self-employed trade industry. Therefore, self-employed tradeswomen must work five extra months per year to match a man’s salary across trade roles.
Top ten self-employed trades with the largest gender pay gaps
Ranking Trade Male hourly rates Female hourly rates Hourly gender pay gap 1 Electrician £26.51 £18.54 £7.97 2 Plumbing £25.88 £18.10 £7.78 3 Joinery £25.73 £17.99 £7.74 4 Insulation £24.12 £16.86 £7.25 5 General construction £23.65 £16.54 £7.11 6 Bricklaying £23.37 £16.34 £7.03 7 Painter and decorator £23.31 £16.30 £7.01 8 Steel and timber frame erection £22.19 £15.52 £6.67 9 Surfacing contractors £21.85 £15.28 £6.57 10 Specialist trades £21.60 £15.10 £6.49
Electricians have the biggest hourly gender pay gap at £7.97
Magnet Trade’s report reveals self-employed electricians have the biggest hourly gender pay gap, with women only charging £18.54 compared to £26.51 for men on average. This means that male electricians earn, on average, £16,583 more than women in a year.
An average electrician’s weekly salary, according to Hudson Contract, is £1,055, which is just over £50,000 a year. Due to increased demand for jobs, electricians can charge more, meaning their wage is above the UK average.
Plumbers have the second-highest gender pay gap
Plumbers rank as the trade with the second-largest gender pay gap within the industry. Plumbers have one of the highest average trade salaries, earning on average £53,824 a year. However, the pay gap between genders is also very high, with females earning £18.10 compared to males £25.88 an hour. This equates to a loss of over £16,182 a year for women in the plumbing trade compared to their male counterparts.
Joiners have the third most significant gender page gap, equating to a loss of £16,099 a year for female joiners compared to men in the same trade. When looking at the hourly rate for joiners, men earn on average £25.73, whereas women in the same position only earn £17.99 per hour.