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Gender pay gap among barristers in England and Wales widens

Women have made up half of all new entrants into the profession for two decades

Male barristers earned around £34,400 (€39,953) more than their female counterparts

Fri Oct 1 2021 - 08:02

The gender pay gap among certain lawyers in England and Wales has only got wider over the last 20 years, despite widespread public campaigns to highlight the inequality across the UK

Male barristers – the British term for lawyers allowed speak in court – earned around £34,400 (€39,953) more than their female counterparts last year, compared to a £20,000 difference at the start of the century, according to Bar Council data.

That equates to a 62 per cent difference which is in stark contrast to the 7.4 per cent national gender pay gap for full-time UK employees in 2020, according to the Office for National Statistics.

This is despite the fact that women have made up half of all new entrants into the profession for two decades, the Bar Council said, which represents attorneys in England and Wales.

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“These figures demonstrate that, although we are making progress in representation of women at the Bar, we have a long way to go to achieve equality,” the Bar Council said in their report. “It’s worrying that the gap between men and women is getting wider.” – Bloomberg

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