Women in Scotland earn £3,000 less than men as gender pay gap rises by 30%

Women in Scotland can expect to earn £3,000 less per year than men, according to Scotland’s trade unions.

Using the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings data, the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) found the mean gender pay gap rose by 30%.

The mean pay gender pay gap rose from 6.4% in 2023 to 8.3% in 2024, with men seeing an increase of £1 to their pay packet, while the typical woman only saw their pay go up by 74 pence.

The STUC say the data, released on October 29, is a “significant reversal of previous trends showing the pay gap was narrowing”.

The typical woman in Scotland earns £16.74 an hour, while the typical man earns £18.44 an hour, figures showed.

This increase has been driven by a rise in the pay gap within the public sector, while in the private sector the divide has fallen.

Roz Foyer, STUC general secretary, said: “It’s simply staggering and scandalous that, despite progress having been made, the gender pay gap in Scotland has risen by 30%.

“Women can now expect to take home an inexcusable £3,000 less than their male counterparts.

“With the gap growing more in the public sector than the private sector, it confirms entirely what trade unions have long been calling for: public sector workers deserve better pay.

“The Scottish Government must pay up for women.

“With three-quarters of the local government workforce being female and with over £1.5bn having landed into the lap of the Scottish Government as a result of the UK Government’s Budget, there is simply no excuse for them to ignore the voices of women workers any longer.

“Ministers must return to the negotiating table. Our public sector workers deserve a wage that represents their worth and it’s entirely within the power of the Scottish Government to make that happen.”

The data comes amid Unison local government workers continue their dispute on pay and conditions with three-quarters of the local government workforce being female.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Compared to the UK as a whole, Scotland still has a lower median gender pay gap and more women earning the real living wage or more.

“Scotland also has the second highest median gross weekly full-time earnings for women in the UK after London.

“While employment law is reserved, the Scottish Government is working to reduce the gender pay gap and promote equality through its Fair Work approach.

“The pay offer for local government workers in Scotland is better than offers in the rest of the UK.

“It will see the lowest paid workers receive a 5.63% pay increase and most local government workers receive more than 4%.

“This delivers what GMB, Unite and Unison asked for from councils at the end of July.”