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The income gap between men and women in Lloyd’s Bank Group grew nationwide last year despite a record decline in the income gap between large UK employers.
Data submitted ahead of the government deadline on Friday shows that the median wage gap for Lloyd’s Banking Group rose 2.7 per cent to 35.5 per cent. Covering all brands, including Halifax, Bank of Scotland and its flagship brands, this number means that women earned 64.5p per pound made.
According to a Financial Times analysis of 9,700 companies that submitted data by 10am on Friday, Lloyd’s Bank, the group’s subsidiary, had the fourth-largest wage gap for employers with more than 5,000 staff. The unit’s disparity was 39.2%, an increase of 1.8 percentage points the previous year.
The National Architecture Association also reported a big jump in wage gaps. It said that a one-time living payment of £500 disproportionately boosted the income of female staff the previous year.
The increase in revenue gap between the two largest lenders in the country fell below 9% for the first time last year, reflecting hourly wage differences between men and women, expressed as a percentage of the median male due to the UK wage gap.
This figure is currently at 8.4%, but men still listen in 78% of employers who submitted their data. More than 250 employers are required to report numbers from 2018 onwards.
Deeba Syed, policy director for the Fawcett Society, said it was a charity campaign for gender equality, and that employers weren’t closing the pay gap quickly enough. “For a woman that’s too long.
“Our Prime Minister (Rachel Reeves) has committed to closing the wage gap at once. This is a welcome welcome, but we need to make sure more is done to make this commitment come true.”
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The finance and insurance sector achieved the third highest gap in 2024 after education and construction. Women in this sector earn an average of 80p per pound earned by male counterparts.
HSBC reported a wage gap of 46.7% across UK employees, down from 48.3% the previous year.
Barclays, Santander and Natwest also narrowed the pay gap last year, but these were above 27%, leaving some of the biggest gaps among large employers.
As the pay gap reflects income regardless of seniority, significant differences in sectors such as banking and law primarily reflect the less workforce of women and top jobs, with many women in junior or back office roles.
After the Roses emerged from Natwest in 2023, Sterlingbank’s Anne Boden is the only female lender and only female chief executive in the nation.
“This is a sector where individual groups make incredibly large amounts compared to the majority of employees,” said Yasmine Chinwala, author of a recent review of the Treasury’s Treasury Charter, which aims to increase the number of older women in the financial sector.
She added that banking still requires long hours of work and constantly demands a culture that is available, which prevents women from participating in the most senior roles. “The banks are trying. (But) the inertia is very high.”
Median hourly wage gaps are lower in Challenger Banks without a large investment bank workforce. Monzo reports a median wage gap of 6.3%, while Revolut’s stand is 12.7%.
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Lloyds said, on average, that wage gap has decreased year-on-year. He said it is “companies with senior management teams with gender divers are improving performance,” and the focus is on closing the wage gap.
HSBC said it focuses on ensuring that all employment and progression processes are fair for all employees.
Santander said that gender pay gaps reflect the organization’s structure, but that more women are moving towards client-oriented roles.
Barclays added that achieving a more equal gender distribution across the company will take time, adding that the pay gap for businesses in the UK has narrowed. Natwest declined to comment.
FT uses the median gap (midpoint of pay) rather than the average to avoid a small number of highly paid employees not skew the numbers.
Additional Reports by Patrick Matlin
