Women work 8 months longer to afford their first property

Buying your first home can be a daunting goal due to the huge cost of getting onto the property ladder. But due to the gender pay gap, this can be even more so for women. 

OnlineMortgageAdvisor.co.uk were intrigued to discover just how much the gender pay gap in the UK affects women’s chances of buying their first home. They analysed Office for National Statistics data to discover which full-time working women have it the toughest, and just how much longer they have to work than men in order to buy a home in the UK. 

How much longer does the average working woman have to save for? 

On average, full-time working women aged 30-39 earn £16.13 per hour whilst men earn £17.85 per hour; 10.68% more. The average price of a home in the UK is £253,673, and the average first-time buyer pays an 18% deposit (£42,421.14), therefore women must work for 6 years, 9 months and 18 days whilst men work for 6 years, 1 month and 22 days to afford the 18% deposit – leaving the average full-time working woman to work for 7 months and 27 days longer to save for the required £42,421.14! 

But how does this break down per industry? 

OnlineMortgageAdvisor.co.uk found that the biggest pay gap is 46.9%, with women working in carpentry and joining earning only £6.96 per hour, compared to their male counterparts who earn £13.10. Due to this, female carpenters and joiners must work a whopping 7 years, 4 months and 19 days longer in order to save for their first home. 

Female financial institution managers and directors place in second, with a huge 32.8% pay gap between men (£29.23 p/h) and women (£19.63 p/h). This difference in pay means that women working in this industry have to save for 1 year, 10 months and 1 day longer than men in the same job. 

Women who work in the assembling of vehicle and metal goods have a 30.4% pay gap in the male- dominated industry, earning an average of £10.18 hourly. As male co-workers earn £14.63 per hour, women in the same role must work for 3 years, 3 months and 10 days longer to afford the 18% deposit on their first home. 

What about the female-dominated jobs? 

Although women make up 79% of all jobs in the health and social services sector, their managers and directors earn 14.8% less than their male counterparts – leaving women in this job to save for 8 months and 11 days longer.