Gender pay gap narrows but remains at 8.6% in latest Jersey government report

The report found that women in the public service earned on average 92.2p per hour for every £1 that men did and, while there is still an 8.6% difference, the pay gap between men and women has nearly halved since 2022.

Various structural and societal factors influence the data:

• The number of women (65%) versus men (35%) in the public service
• A higher proportion of women than men who work part-time and reduced hours due to caring responsibilities
• While more women are employed in the most senior positions in Government since 2022, fewer highly-paid men are needed to skew the figures
• Nearly half of all public service staff are in Education and Health (49%), where the workforce is predominantly female (76%)
• Many of the lower graded roles in Education and Health attract and are held predominantly by female employees
• Most flexible roles (i.e. teaching assistants) are evaluated at the lower grades and attract mainly female workers
• Historically, certain roles have a higher proportion of one gender (Eg. Nurses 80% female, Prison Service 80% male)

Deputy Malcolm Ferey, vice chair of the States Employment Board, said: “This does not mean men and women are paid differently in the public service for doing the same job. We pay all staff equally for the same roles within any specified pay group. It is, however, possible to have a pay gap and to still pay people fairly and this data helps us to see where, on average, differences exist and why. Any gap is partly driven by roles in which one gender or another are traditionally attracted to.

“While I’m pleased that the pay gap has nearly halved since 2022, we are not complacent and want to build on this progress to ensure we can understand and act on this data. Over the coming year, we will continue to strengthen internal policies, review barriers to career progression, and ensure that our workplace practices support equity at every stage.”