“Women’s work” and the UK gender pay gap.
According with the data, shows that the number of women in the creative, digital and marketing sectors remains the same as last year at 63%. In a similar trend to the previous year, women are earning more than their male counterparts in both entry-level and mid-level positions; however, this trend decreases in senior and c-suite positions.
GENDER
This is evident when comparing representation at salaries above £70,000, where 19% of women earn above this threshold compared to 36% of men, an increase of 3% and 7%, respectively, compared to last year’s report. Our data also suggests that the pay gap has widened over the last 12 months, with women earning, on average, £9,618 less than men in permanent roles, which has seen the gap widen by £371 per annum. This represents a pay gap of 15.1%, which is considerably greater than the UK average of 9.4% as reported by The Guardian, and this is despite 65% of females reporting a salary increase in the last 12 months. Within freelance roles, the gender pay gap has closed considerably from 13.3% to 6.8%, but females are still earning on average £25 less than their male counterparts.
Women are earning, on average £9,618 less than men in permanent roles and £25 less in freelance day rates.
ETHNICITY
Our data sample indicates that ethnic representation has remained at the same level as last year, with Asian, Black, Mixed, Arabic or Other making up 15.6% of the creative industries workforce. This is still short of the UK national average of 18.3%, and considerably short of London’s 39.9% ethnic makeup. In addition, representation within senior and C-suite roles is also low, where only 11% of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic workers are in roles above £70,000+. Unlike last year, there have been several changes in average salaries based on ethnicity, and despite positive strides in some areas, there are still large disparities and inequalities in others.
SEXUALITY & IDENTITY
There has been an increase in respondents identifying with being asexual, bisexual, demisexual, gay, pansexual, queer, or other, making up 18% of the creative industries workforce, a 4% YoY increase in representation. However, those within the LGBTQIA+ community have seen pay disparity increase, earning 8.5% less, on average, than their heterosexual counterparts versus the 5% reported last year. Whilst LGBTQIA+ freelancers tend to earn more, they’ve seen the pay gap reduce from 6% to 1.4%, and are now earning just £5 extra per day compared to last year. Less than 1% identified with non-binary or intersex, with a further 1% stating their gender identity was not the same as the sex they were assigned at birth.
Source: Major_Players_Census_2023
