The Yorkshire district where women are paid on average £4 an hour less than men

Analysis of residents’ median hourly pay has shown 12 out of 19 Yorkshire LAs had a gender pay gap exceeding the UK average of 8.9 per cent in 2019.

In 2018, only nine Yorkshire LAs had a pay gap exceeding the UK average.

The figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveal that in the worst-performing area - Richmondshire - women were paid on average over £4 per hour less than men.

Equalities groups have said “seeing the gap widen should be a wake-up call”, while Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) leaders have insisted businesses across the region are “becoming increasingly aware of and committed to addressing issues around gender pay gaps”.

The analysis comes as people across the world this weekend mark International Women’s Day, celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.

Certain areas in North Yorkshire had particularly pronounced gender pay gaps in the analysis.

Richmondshire’s gender pay gap stood at around 27 per cent in 2019, while in Ryedale the gap widened from just 6.7 per cent in 2018 to 23.9 per cent the following year.

Sam Alexander, chair of the Skills and Employability Board and Diversity Champion for the York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) said “occupational segregation” is partly to blame for pay disparity in North Yorkshire:

“As a region, we face significant challenges relating to a gender pay gap and occupational ‘segregation’, which means that women are concentrated in occupations with poorer prospects and in low-paid part-time work.”

She points to the example that “the vast majority of corporate managers, STEM professionals, agricultural workers, workers in construction trades and process and transport operatives are male”, while female employment is “dominant in health professional, teaching professional, administrative, caring personal service and sales occupations, which are frequently paid less well.”

Not all Yorkshire LAs saw an increase in the pay gap between 2018 and 2019, however.

Hambleton’s median pay gap of 11.4 per cent in 2018 closed to below 0, meaning women in the area were actually paid marginally more - 0.8 per cent - than men in 2019. Sheffield, Wakefield and Selby all saw below-average gender pay gaps.

A total of 11 out of 19 Yorkshire LAs saw their gender pay gap narrow between 2018 and 2019. In spite of this, the majority (12) still had an above-average gender pay gap between male and female residents last year.

A representative from gender equality charity the Fawcett Society said: “Employers across Yorkshire should be acting now to reduce gender pay gaps that are consistently above the UK average.

“Women in Yorkshire, like women across the UK, want their work to be fairly valued. But it seems women here are missing out on pay and opportunities. Too often, women's work is seen as worth less than men's. Women get paid less month on month, year on year. Seeing the gap widen should be a wake up call.”

The LEP for North Yorkshire insists that work is being done to tackle the issue. In 2020, the partnership will launch a “Women in the Workforce” programme to help businesses redress the gender pay gap and aid individual women with leadership skills, networking and getting back into work following career breaks.

They also plan to launch a further programme to build representation of women in digital and STEM industries.

Ms Alexander added: “There is no quick fix for addressing this issue. However, we believe that businesses across our region are becoming increasingly aware of and committed to addressing issues around gender pay gaps and we can support that change through existing LEP programmes and the more strategic longer-term change that will be brought about through our Local Industrial Strategy.”