A gender gap persists in pay rises requests, with men more likely to ask, and be successful, than women
Should you ask for a pay rise? The age-old question is particularly relevant in the current cost of living crisis, with Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey coming under fire recently for suggesting that workers refrain from asking for pay rises to try to control spiralling inflation. YouGov data explores the demographic factors involved in taking the plunge with your employer.
Across all British adults who have ever held a paying job, four in ten have asked for a pay rise, made up of 26% who have been successful at least once and 13% who were never successful. Half (53%) have never asked, while 7% can’t recall whether they have previously asked or been successful.
Men are more likely than women to have received a pay rise as a result of asking for one
There is a substantial gender gap present in the thorny business of asking your boss for a pay rise. Women who have worked are noticeably less likely to have never asked for a pay rise (60%) than men (48%).
Out of all British adults who have worked, 46% of men have asked for a pay rise, compared to just 33% of women. Three in 10 men (31%) have asked for a pay rise and been successful, compared to 21% of women.
When looking at success rates (the proportion of those who have asked for a pay rise and been successful), the numbers for men and women are much more even, although men are narrowly in front with a success rate of 68% compared to women’s 63%.
A gender gap between men and women asking for pay rises is present for people in their 30s and older
Breaking the results down by age and gender reveals that younger men and women are on an even keel, but a gender gap exists from those in their 30s and older. For 18 to 29-year-olds who have held a job, 18% of men and 16% of women have asked for a pay rise and received at least one, and likewise 17% of young women and 15% of young men who have asked for, but never received, a pay rise. Six in ten of both groups have never asked in the first place.
Moving up the decades, the gender gap immediately begins to become more noticeable, with a 12-point difference between men in their 30s who have successfully asked for a pay rise (31%) and women in their 30s who have done the same (19%). This difference between men and women persists across age as the proportion who have been successful increases. For Britons over 70, a third (34%) of men who have worked have successfully asked for a pay rise, compared with around a quarter (23%) of women.
Britons with middle-class jobs are more likely to have asked for a pay rise and been successful
British workers from ABC1 occupations are more likely than those working C2DE jobs to have asked and been successful in asking for a pay rise. More than four in 10 (44%) Britons from ABC1 lines of work have asked for a pay rise, including 30% who have asked successfully – a success rate of 69%. That’s compared to 33% of C2DE workers who have asked for a pay rise, including 19% who have received one as a result of asking – a success rate of 59%.
A third of ABC1 men (36%) have asked for a pay rise and received one, compared to 24% of C2DE men. For women, the figures are 25% (ABC1) and 13% (C2DE) – a 12-point gap against their male counterparts in both cases.
Women from working-class occupations (69%) are considerably more likely than women from middle-class occupations (55%) to have never asked for a pay rise. The gap between middle class men and working class women on this measure stands at a whopping 23pts, with 46% of men in ABC1 jobs never having asked for a pay rise.
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