Mind the gender pay gap: progress and next steps for the legal profession

It comes as no surprise that gender equality in the legal profession remains an issue that law firms and barristers' chambers alike attempt to address. In this Feature, we’ll consider the progress made so far, what 2026 looks like for women in the legal profession, and the #GiveToGain actions that law firms and chambers must take to increase support and opportunities for women in the profession.

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Free work and gender pay gap reporting

How many days would you work for free alongside your paid male counterparts? According to analysis by the Trades Union Congress (TUC), the average woman works for free for 47 days of the year when comparing their salary to that of the average man (down from 48 last year). In fact, Sunday 15 February 2026 – this year’s Women’s Pay Day – marked the point at which the average woman stopped working for free. For some women, this period lasts even longer depending on various factors, including age and region. Women between 50 and 59 years old have the highest pay gap (19.7%) and work for free until 13 March 2026, while women working in South East England, where the gender pay gap is the largest (15.8%), work for free until 26 February 2026. Meanwhile, when looking at the private sector, TUC reports that the gender pay gap is 17.5%, meaning that women work for free for around 64 days (down from 67 in last year’s report).

With companies’ gender pay gap reports next due on 4 April 2026, it’ll be interesting to see whether improvements have been made over the past year – to both the number of organisations publishing their reports and the actual pay gap.

Law firms’ gender pay gap reporting

Clifford Chance's 2024/25 data shows that women’s median hourly pay was 33% lower than men’s for this period (this is down from the 33.5% gap that was reported for 2023/24), while the gap at Charles Russell Speechlys LLP decreased, slightly, for the same period, falling from 32.9% in 2023/24 to 32.1% in 2024/25. While there are improvements at some firms, many also reported increases in median hourly pay.

Despite women making up a higher proportion of solicitors (62%) than men, and the gender pay gap having fallen by one-quarter among full-time employees in the past decade, lawyers are among the workers currently experiencing some of the widest pay gaps and progress remains slow. Keep your eyes peeled on the latest data published by any of your shortlisted law firms or chambers this April. You can search and compare gender pay gap data via the government’s gender pay gap service.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the gender pay gap for all employees decreased to 12.8% in April 2025, down from 13.1% in April 2024. Although it’s good to acknowledge these gradual improvements, the discrepancies in pay remain. In fact, analysis recently published by TUC indicates that it’ll take 30 years (until 2056) to close the gender pay. TUC’s General Secretary Paul Nowak calls for the government to “turbo-charge its approach”, warning that “women will continue to lose out”.

Ethnicity gender pay gap

There are further nuances to the gender pay gap problem. In January 2024, the Fawcett Society published a report – Double Trouble: The Ethnicity Gender Pay Gap – to highlight how ethnicity pay gaps exacerbate the gender pay gap for Black and minority ethnic women. Women of Bangladeshi, Pakistani, and mixed white and Black Caribbean heritage see the largest ethnicity pay gaps of 14.7%, 11.8% and 10.6%, respectively, compared to white British women. When compared to white British men, this gap widens even further to 28.5%, 25.9% and 25%, respectively, according to the Fawcett Society’s analysis of ONS data.

In the #EthnicityPayGapCampaign report from 2022, it was found that 52% of Black women surveyed had experienced being paid less than white colleagues in the same role. Those surveyed also commented on being turned down for promotion and discussed health issues relating to workplace stress and marginalisation. Adding to this, Fawcett’s 2022 Sex and Power report demonstrated that Black and ethnic minority women are almost entirely absent in the most senior positions in the UK. Alesha De-Freitas, head of policy, research and advocacy at the Fawcett Society, says: “The ethnicity pay gap is creating a double trouble for Black and minoritised women in the UK. The figures that we have are so very stark – that women of Bangladeshi heritage are earning on average close to a third less per hour than white British men should be a national outrage.”

De-Freitas calls for “urgent intervention” to close these gaps, while urging the government to make ethnicity pay gap reporting mandatory and require all companies with persistent gaps to publish action plans – and be “held to account when they do not”. Despite a government consultation in 2025, there’s still no clear progress regarding when ethnicity pay gap reporting will become a legal requirement for all organisations. A draft bill is expected in 2026. More than half of workers (55%) said they want the government to commit to introducing mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting in the next 12 months, according to non-profit People Like Us data. Of those surveyed as part of this report, 56% said they had discovered that a colleague from a different background was being paid more for doing similar work. Dianne Greyson, founder of the Ethnicity Pay Gap Campaign, cites HR leadership as “critical” to generate movement in this area.

Meanwhile, the intersection of gender, ethnicity and parenthood produces even larger wage gaps, particularly for mothers of Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage, the Fawcett Society reports. The Ethnicity Motherhood Pay Penalty report, published in June 2023, found that across “the medium to long term income the mean motherhood pay penalty is around 45% compared to women who have not had children”. Mothers of Indian and white heritage saw pay gaps of 1% compared to women of the same ethnicity with no children; the gap was larger at 10% for mothers of Black African heritage; and 13% for mothers of Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage.

Reasons contributing to the gap

The motherhood pay penalty contributes significantly to the gender pay gap and gender ethnicity pay gap. Despite discrimination during pregnancy being prohibited under the Equality Act 2010, issues continue to arise for women making job applications and those in work while pregnant. This is exacerbated by the unequal sharing of caring responsibilities or parental leave.

According to the Fawcett Society’s Ethnicity Motherhood Pay Penalty report, “Black and minoritised mothers make up a large proportion of the 28% of British workers who are not entitled to any form of paid parental leave because of their employment status or length of service”. Lack of appropriate, affordable and culturally sensitive Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) and flexible working opportunities were also cited in the Ethnicity Motherhood Pay Penalty report as factors contributing to the issue.

Elsewhere, the so-called ‘negotiation gap’ or ‘ask gap’ is often referenced when considering the reasons behind the persisting gender pay gap. Nina Rousille, who completed a post-doctorate at the London School of Economics and joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s economics department as an assistant professor in 2023, explains that the “gender ask gap measures the extent to which women ask for lower salaries than comparable men”. Speaking about her research in ‘The Role of the Ask Gap in Gender Pay Inequality’, Rousille says: “Right off the bat, if I look at a man and a woman with similar resumes on the platform [Hired.com], the woman is on average asking for three per cent less than the man.”

Meanwhile, a 2025 study looking at the differences between boys and girls in primary school found that “boys tend to overestimate their abilities compared to girls”, suggesting they may “feel more entitled to push the boundaries during negotiations”. Sophie Arnold, a New York University doctoral student and the lead author of the paper, indicates that these findings could explain the gender pay gap among adults in the workplace.

Employment Rights Act

The Employment Rights Act – agreed in December 2025 – will make waves in the employment landscape over the next two years, and includes several policies to improve diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. TUC’s Nowak describes the Employment Rights Act as “an important step forward for pay parity for women”, but the union continues to call for improved access to flexible working and better access to childcare to help close the gap.

The government has outlined a timeline for changes being introduced, with measures taking effect at various points throughout 2026 and into 2027.

Among the reforms is the requirement for large employers (those with 250 or more employees) to publish action plans on addressing gender pay gaps. Failure to do so could result in a penalty. There are various elements of this requirement that still need to be ironed out, including how often the plans must be published. The government’s current timetable shows that these measures will be introduced on 6 April 2026 on a voluntary basis, before becoming mandatory in 2027. The TUC hopes that this requirement will help employers to address the changes needed to improve the gender pay gap. In October 2024, the government published a summary of its “working assumption”. The summary outlined that the theory behind the requirement is that, in the short term, employers will improve their understanding of the actions needed to reduce their gender pay gap, leading to a “sustained reduction in the gender pay gap in organisations with at least 250 employees” in the long term.

On top of this, the act also includes increased protection for pregnant women and new mothers that will come into effect in 2027. The regulations surrounding these protections haven’t yet been confirmed, including details about when the protections should start and end, and whether other new parents should be protected, according to Lewis Silkin.

Among other things, 2027 is also set to see the introduction of the right to guaranteed hours (women are 1.2 times more likely to be on a zero-hour contract than men); and the right to reasonable notice and short notice payments. Although the act doesn’t ban zero-hour contracts, employers will have a duty to “offer qualifying workers a contract that reflects the hours regularly worked over a reference period”. Again, there remain several elements to still be confirmed in regard to this measure, with consultation expected to take place in early 2026.

Give to Gain

What else are organisations doing to contribute and provide support for all women impacted by the gender pay gap issue?

Early Childhood Education and Care

“Access to affordable ECEC is key to enabling mothers to return to the workplace,” the Fawcett Society states in its Ethnicity Motherhood Pay Penalty report. This, in turn, could support mothers in returning to full time or flexible work and reduce the risk of large motherhood pay penalties. Research from the Fawcett Society in 2024 found that one-third of parents with young children in England find it difficult to afford childcare, while one-quarter of a million mothers with young children are leaving their jobs as a result of issues with balancing work and childcare. Jemima Olchawski, the Fawcett Society’s chief executive, says: “Our childcare is some of the most expensive in the world and it isn’t working.”

From 1 September 2025, government-funded childcare (for eligible working parents) in England doubled to 30 hours for children under two years old, with the government predicting potential savings of up to £7,500 a year per child. For those who aren’t eligible for the 30 hours of funded childcare, the government is still offering 15 hours of funded education from the term after the child turns three.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer says the new support is a “landmark moment for working families”, with a headteacher and single mother from Gloucester due to save around £600 each month. She adds that without the government-funded support, she’d have to cut her working hours. “This rollout is a significant step forward in women’s rights and workplace participation,” she says. However, Lydia Hodges, head of Coram Family and Childcare, explains that “the focus on parental income risks excluding disadvantaged children who stand to benefit the most from early education, and further widening the disadvantage gap”. Meanwhile, the Fawcett Society has previously called for an expansion of the current free hours of ECEC so that all children are eligible, not just those with working parents. This is yet to be seen.

Flexible working

Since April 2024 employees have had the right to request flexible working from day one, with employers able to refuse an application request only if it’s considered ‘reasonable’ to do so. However, the government’s promises to make “flexible working the default from day one for all workers” has received criticism from several parties. Taking to X, The 4 Day Week Foundation called the government’s proposals “weak and disappointing”, arguing that the “proposed new *default right* to flexible working is actually just a right to request (which already exists)”. The Fawcett Society has called for “more comprehensive reforms” to “normalise the uptake of flexible work”, supporting both retention and progression in the workplace. A consultation process is running until 30 April 2026, with the updated measures set to take effect in 2027.

Supporting career progression

With women less likely to advocate for pay rises or promotions, career progression support is vital. Among several recommendations, the Fawcett Society suggests:

• conducting “annual audits to track how training budgets are spent and whether race or parenthood are factors in who has access to courses”;
• making sure “Black and minoritised mothers have equitable access to mentorship schemes”; and
• supporting and training managers “to conduct appraisals that are supportive and developmental, without gendered or racialised assumptions about individual’s goals”.

Discover other key ways to Give to Gain for gender equality via the IWD website.

2026 and onwards

The statistics outlined above highlight the need for continued work in this area – and this year’s IWD theme, Give to Gain, emphasises “the power of reciprocity and support” in reaching gender equality. Although progress has been made, the pace of change is slow and there are still many barriers facing women in the workplace. It’s time to call out stereotypes, challenge discrimination, question bias and celebrate women’s success.

Olivia Partridge (she/her) is the content manager at LawCareers.Net.