New research by an online services marketplace has found that the gender pay gap is virtually non-existent among self employed and freelance workers in the UK. The research found that women bidding for freelance and self-employed opportunities and jobs in sectors such as tutoring, photography and personal training earned virtually the same as men and in some cases more throughout the site.
The study, commissioned by Bidvine.com, an online local services marketplace where users can post jobs and ask local service professionals to bid for the work found that within their top five industry categories there was little to no gender pay gap between average rates of pay over the last 12 months. The study polled 150 men and 150 women from each of the top five sectors on the website, asking participants to provide their average hourly wages over the last 12 months, the results are below:
- Personal training (Male – £36 per hour / Female – £33 per hour)
- Wedding photography (Male – £650 per wedding / Female – £680 per wedding)
- Cleaners (Male – £11 per hour / Female – £12 per hour)
- Plumbers (Male – £73 per hour / Female – £70 per hour)
- Music teachers (Male – £28 per hour / Female – £28 per hour)
- Gardeners (Male – £21 per hour / Female – £19 per hour)
- Language teachers (Male – £25 per hour / Female – £28 per hour)
- Electricians (Male – £70 per hour / Female – £68 per hour)
- Singing teachers (Male – £30 per hour / Female – £35 per hour)
Although the results of the Bidvine study show that the gender pay gap is narrowing among the self employed and freelance workers, the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics puts the average gender pay gap at 14.1% across all sectors and age groups, a figure which has stayed the same since 2014. Co-founder of Bidvine.com Russ Morgan talked about the research saying:
“It’s great to see that, at least among the skilled professionals on our site, the gender pay gap is virtually extinct. The explosion of freelance and self-employed workers has seen a shift in how people value the work they do, and what their customers see as value for money for a job well-done.
Because Bidvine connects customers with professionals that can meet their exact needs, perhaps gender has become less of an issue.
We’re looking forward to the next 12 months, and hopefully, a significant change to the ONS figures this time next year.”