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Gender pay gap report 2024

Read the latest report

Foreword from Alex Pitcher, Acting Chief People Officer

Welcome to our annual pay gap report for 2024.

Firstly, we’re pleased that our gender pay gap remains small and significantly below other organisations with a similar focus. This reflects our confidence that our pay does not discriminate based on gender for work of equivalent value.

Secondly, as communicated in the 2023 report, we have included a view of our gender pension gap for the first time. While we are not required to calculate or publish these figures, we feel it is useful to understand any gender-based disparity in pension contributions to assess whether remedial action is required.

In summary, we have identified a gap in the value of pension contributions resulting from a higher proportion of our female employees working part-time. We don’t feel that this is a reason to restrict the flexibility we allow our colleagues, but it is key that they understand all of the implications of reducing their working hours.

Finally, we have previously communicated our intention to expand our analysis to include our ethnicity pay gap and to consider broader elements of diversity and representation at the charity. We are still in the process of capturing sufficient information to ensure that this analysis is robust and representative of our overall colleague population. We remain committed to these aims and welcome the government’s announcement that reporting of ethnicity and disability pay gaps will be required in the future.

We look forward to updating you on progress during 2025.

I confirm that our gender pay gap calculations are accurate and meet the requirements of the Regulations. The data has been produced in accordance with guidance from the Government Equalities Office, published on 14 December 2020 and last updated on 9 January 2024.

Gender pay gap data

The following table shows our gender pay gap based on the April 2024 payroll for 1,085 relevant colleagues within the charity. The charity’s relevant headcount has decreased from 1,092 in 2023.

Gap values are displayed in relation to men, where negative percentages represent a gap favouring women:

2024 2023 2022
Mean pay gap 7.4% 7.8% 7.9%
Median pay gap 3.8% 3.3% 1.7%

2024 gender proportions by pay quartile (change from 2023 in brackets)

Graph showing 2024 gender proportions by pay quartile. Women accounted for 49% (+2%) - highest quartile, 58% (-1%) - upper middle quartile, 62% (+5%) lower middle quartile and 63% (+2%) - lowest quartile

Gender pay commentary

Our pay does not discriminate by gender

  • Our mean and median pay gaps remain small, and significantly below organisations with a similar focus.

While there have been small changes to our mean and median pay gaps since 2023, the gaps remain small at 7.4% and 3.8% respectively.

These pay gaps continue to be smaller than most other organisations and significantly below those with a similar focus, where the average mean gap is 23.8% and the average median gap is 22.1%.

In 2023 we undertook an Equal Pay Audit to compare pay for work of equivalent value. This audit confirmed that our pay does not discriminate based on gender for work of equivalent value. We have not repeated this exercise for 2024 as there is no evidence to suggest that pay relativities by gender have changed.

Changes to pay gaps since 2023 reflect natural variations in our headcount

  • The year-on-year changes to our median and mean pay gaps are small.
  • The key reason for these changes is that changes to our headcount have not been evenly distributed from a gender perspective.

The year-on-year changes to the mean and median pay gaps are small. The mean gap has decreased by 0.4% and the median pay gap shows an increase of 0.5%.

We continue to believe that these changes reflect the natural variations resulting from running the charity. Gender pay calculations are based on a snapshot of pay at a point in time and ongoing recruitment activity will see the gender pay gap fluctuate, both up and down, over time.

Since 2023, the charity's overall headcount has reduced, and female representation has increased to the point where we now have a distinct female majority; 58% of our colleagues are female (this compares with 51% in England and Wales according to the 2021 Census). While female representation has changed in all pay quartiles, these changes have not been evenly distributed from a pay perspective. The largest increases in female representation are in the lower middle and lowest pay quartiles, and this is the key reason for the increase in our median gender pay gap.

Gender pension contribution gap data

For 2024, for the first time, we have considered the gender pension gap.

As with the pay gap figures, gap values are displayed in relation to men, where negative percentages represent a gap favouring women.

Firstly, we have compared the percentage of pay being paid into pension:

2024
Mean pension contribution % gap 0.3%
Median pension contribution % gap 0.0%

Secondly, we have compared the value being paid into pension:

2024
Mean pension contribution value gap 17.1%
Median pension contribution value gap 10.6%

Gender pension contribution commentary

Men and women currently make similar percentage contributions into their pension

  • Percentage pension contributions are similar for men and women; there is a small mean gap of 0.3% in favour of men and no median gap.

Pension contributions are typically expressed as a percentage of a colleague’s earnings. When we compare pension contributions on this basis, there is very little difference between the contributions made by men and women at the charity.

Part-time working means there is a gender gap favouring men in the value of pension contributions

  • There is a gender gap in favour of men for pension contribution values, with a mean gap of 17.1% and a median gap of 10.6%.
  • This is only partly explained by the gender pay gap; mean gap 7.4%, median gap 3.8%.
  • The primary cause of the wider gap is the higher proportion part-time female colleagues employed by the charity.

As we have seen in the previous point, there is little difference between the percentage pension contributions made by men and women. As a result, we might expect the mean gap in the value of pension contributions to be similar to the mean gender pay gap described in the previous section, 7.4%. The fact that the mean pension gap is wider, 17.1%, suggests that there are other factors increasing the gap.

Pension contributions are based on colleague pay, so the value of pension contributions for part-time colleagues will be lower than for full time colleagues.

We have a higher proportion of women than men working part-time, 28% compared with 8%, so women are more than three times more likely than men to work part-time Also, on average our part-time women work shorter hours than our part-time men.

This explains the wider gap in terms of pension contribution values.

We provide colleagues with a degree of flexibility to work around other life commitments. That more women than men utilise this flexibility may be related to childcare – our analysis shows that around half of our female colleagues returning from maternity leave do so on reduced hours.

We do not feel that the existence of a gender pension gap means that we should restrict the flexibility available to all colleagues, but we will continue to focus on educating colleagues that a reduction in working hours not only reduces pay, but also those benefits that are linked to pay.

Gender bonus gap data

Gap values are displayed in relation to men, where negative percentages represent a gap favouring women:

2024 2023 2022
Mean bonus gap -23.8% 26.2% -44.2%
Median bonus gap 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Proportion receiving bonus W: 1.9%
M: 1.5% 		W: 1.5%
M: 2.0% 		W: 1.4%
M: 1.0%

Gender bonus commentary

We don't pay bonus, so our gender bonus gap figures are unusual

  • Our gender bonus gap analysis is based on a small number of colleagues who received recognition payments during 2024.
  • Analysis based on such a small sample is likely to produce unusual results and larger variations from year-to-year.

We do not pay bonus, which means that our bonus gap analysis is based solely on payments through the Iain Kendall Memorial Awards, which recognises colleagues who have truly demonstrated our values and gone above and beyond in their roles here at StepChange.

The number of colleagues receiving payments is small, with 20 colleagues receiving payments during the year to April 2024 out of 1,185 included in the bonus gap analysis. Analysis based on such a small sample is likely to produce unusual results and larger variations from year-to-year.

For 2024, the split of these payments favoured women, with 13 women and 7 men receiving payments. As a result of the payment value being the same for all colleagues, the median bonus payment is level. However, because a higher proportion of women received a payment (1.9%) than men (1.5%), this creates the mean bonus gap in favour of women.

Notes on process

Gender pay gap process

Since April 2017, employers with 250 or more colleagues have been required by law to publish the pay gap between men and women.

The gender pay gap is the difference between the average hourly earnings of all the men and women working in an organisation, irrespective of their role or seniority. As such, it provides a broad indication of how well organisations are seeking to achieve gender equality.

In line with the gender pay gap legislation, the pay gap and pay quartiles information is based on payments made through payroll in April 2024. The bonus information reflects payments received during the 12 months from 6th April 2023 to 5th April 2024.

Gender pension gap process

Unlike the gender pay gap, we are not required to calculate or publish a gender pension gap. We feel it is useful to understand any gender-based disparity in pension contributions to assess whether remedial action is required.

In the absence of a standardised calculation methodology, we have focused on the total pension contributions being paid into colleagues’ pensions, in terms of percentages and values. We have used the same colleague population, from April 2024, used to calculate the gender pay gap, so that we can compare the figures.