Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2017

Date published: 26 October 2017

The ASHE is a UK survey offering data on earnings by gender, work patterns, industry, occupation, and public vs. private sector pay comparisons.

Key points

• Median gross weekly earnings for full-time employees in April 2017 were £501, an increase of 1.5% from £494 in 2016. This is the first time median gross weekly earnings for full-time employees have exceeded £500.
• When adjusted for inflation median gross weekly earnings for full-time employees decreased by 1.0%.
• In the UK, median gross weekly earnings for full-time employees were £550, an increase of 2.2% since 2016 (£539). When adjusted for inflation UK median earnings decreased by 0.4%.
• The increase in median gross weekly earnings was more marked in the private than in the public sector. The full-time median gross weekly earnings in the private sector increased by 3.0% to £446, compared to a 1.0% increase in the public sector, to £623.
• In part due to the continued impact of the National Living Wage, those in the lowest 10% of the full-time weekly earnings distribution experienced a larger increase (4.5%) than those in the highest 10% (0.7%).
• Full-time hourly earnings for females (£12.67) were 3.4% greater than those for full-time males (£12.25).Full-time hourly earnings for females in NI have been higher or equal to males since 2010. This is in contrast to the UK, where full-time hourly earnings for males (£14.48) were 10.0% greater than those for full-time females (£13.16).
• Annual earnings increased marginally (0.1%) for all full-time employees in NI over the year, but remained lower than the UK median of £29,758.
• Total weekly hours worked by full-time employees increased by 0.2 hours over the year and is now 0.7 hours greater than the UK.
• Full report available here