{"id":5000,"date":"2023-03-05T19:34:11","date_gmt":"2023-03-05T19:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marriott-stats.com\/nigels-blog\/?p=5000"},"modified":"2023-06-07T09:38:50","modified_gmt":"2023-06-07T08:38:50","slug":"why-the-dwp-median-gender-pay-gap-is-not-zero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marriott-stats.com\/nigels-blog\/why-the-dwp-median-gender-pay-gap-is-not-zero\/","title":{"rendered":"Pay Gap Case Study #7 – Does the Department for Work & Pensions have a Gender Pay Gap?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Department for Work & Pensions (DWP)<\/strong> says for every \u00a31<\/strong> paid to the median man in March 2022, the median woman was also paid \u00a31.<\/strong>\u00a0 In other words, their 2022 median gender pay gap using hourly pay was 0%<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0 However, their Gender Swap Number per 1,000 employees for this date was +26 <\/strong>which immediately raises the question\u00a0“Have the DWP made an error in their calculations like Cleveland Police did in 2017<\/a>?<\/em><\/span>”\u00a0 This was my first reaction which seems remarkable for an employer with 91,006<\/strong> full pay relevant employees<\/a> on a public sector pay scale and the largest pool of statisticians of any government department.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Equality Now! in action<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

\"\"The truth is the DWP<\/strong> did do their calculations correctly but they are an unusual exception to the normal rule of “median pay gap of zero = swap number of zero<\/em><\/span>“.\u00a0 They are in fact a perfect case study of the “Equality Now!<\/em><\/span>” method of eliminating a pay gap between the median man and median woman which I first explained in my article “10 Quick & Easy ways to close your pay gap tomorrow!<\/em><\/a><\/span>“.<\/p>\n

This article explains how this happened and why it is another example of the median gender pay gap statistic being misleading for some employers.\u00a0 It reinforces yet again my constant exhortation to employers to always start their gender pay gap narratives with their Pay Quarter Breakdowns (PQB<\/strong>) by gender and to abide the mantra of “People not Percentages<\/em><\/span>” coined by my colleague Anthony Horrigan of Spktral<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In writing this article, I am in no way whatsoever suggesting the DWP have deliberately sought to mislead the public<\/strong> over how they present their pay gap data.\u00a0 On the contrary, their 2022 gender pay gap narrative<\/a> makes it clear the lack of a pay gap between the median man and median woman is a statistical quirk.\u00a0 Indeed it is only through their openness in their narrative which I consider to be a good example to other employers that I am able to write this article.<\/p>\n

Where to find the DWP gender pay gap data<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n
    \n
  1. Download my gender pay gap data spreadsheet<\/a> and look up Department for Work & Pensions.<\/li>\n
  2. Visit the Government Equalities Office (GEO) Gender Pay Gap Data site<\/a> and search for Department for Work & Pensions<\/li>\n
  3. See a list of all gender pay gap data submissions made by the DWP between 2017 & 2022<\/a> on the GEO site<\/li>\n
  4. See the DWP gender pay gap site<\/a><\/li>\n
  5. Read the 2022 Gender Pay Gap report published by the DWP<\/a><\/strong> which is the document I will be using & referring to in this article<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    DWP in 2022<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

    For every \u00a31 paid per hour to the median man as of 31st March 2022, the median woman was also paid \u00a31.\u00a0 At the same time, the average (mean) woman was paid 94p for every \u00a31 paid to the average man.\u00a0 These figures have remained stable between 2017 & 2022.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    What has not remained stable is the GSN1k<\/strong><\/span> (Gender Swap Number per 1,000 employees<\/a>).\u00a0 This was near 0<\/strong> for the 1st 3 years before jumping to around 25<\/strong> for the next 3 years. In other words, for every 1,000 employees at DWP in 2022, 26<\/strong> women from the lower pay half need to move into the upper pay half (with 26<\/strong> men going the other way) to make the number of women in the upper pay half equal to the number of women in the lower pay half (and similarly for men).<\/p>\n

    A quick reminder, the GSN1k is the difference between the number of women in the lower pay half and the number of women in the upper pay half which is then divided by 2<\/strong> and then pro-rated assuming the DWP has 1,000<\/strong> employees instead of 91,006.\u00a0 By treating the percentages shown in the pay quarter breakdowns as number of employees instead, it is easy to see that ((66<\/strong><\/span>+74<\/span><\/strong>)-(59<\/span><\/strong>+60<\/strong><\/span>))\/2<\/strong> *1000<\/strong>\/400<\/strong> = +26<\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

    Identifying the median man and median woman at DWP in 2022<\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n

    On page 7 of the DWP’s 2022 narrative, this table is given which shows how many men and women work in the five main job grades used in the DWP.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Image source – Department of Work & Pensions 2022 gender pay gap report page 7<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

    The total headcount on 31st March 2022 was 92,369 (see page 3<\/em>).\u00a0 Of these, 91,006 employees were deemed to be full pay relevant<\/a> (FPRE<\/strong>) for the purposes of the gender pay gap calculations based on hourly pay and the above table only refers to FPREs.\u00a0 The DWP do not explicitly make this clear but I understand there is no crossover between the 5 pay grades when it comes to hourly pay e.g. the top of the SEO\/HEO pay scale is not higher than the bottom of the Grade 6\/7 pay scale, etc.<\/p>\n

    In which job grade will you find the median man<\/strong><\/span> and the median woman<\/strong><\/span>?<\/p>\n