Migration will drive population to 73m

Migration will account for three quarters of population growth over the next quarter of a century as the number of people living in the UK rises to 73million. The ONS is forecasting that the population will rise by 7.3million between 2016 and 2041, a rise driven by migration, including growing numbers of babies born to foreign parents. The figures do not take account of Brexit.

THE gender pay gap for workers in their 20s has grown as women beginning their careers earn less than their male colleagues.

According to analysis of data from the Office for National Statistics, in 2012 the pay gap for employees aged between 22 and 29 was in favour of women, who were earning on average three per cent more than their male counterparts.

But while older women’s earnings have been catching up with men’s, this trend has reversed since 2015 for younger women, with figures for 2017 showing a 2.2 per cent skew in favour of men, up from 0.8 per cent in 2016.

Women’s organisations suggested that the disparity was due to the different industries chosen for men and women for their careers.

Bex Bailey, of charity the Young Women’s Trust, said that the change could be due to wage recovery after the financial crisis.

“Wages have risen again in some sectors, but we know that women are more likely to be stuck on low pay, in low-paid sectors, so their wages are less likely to have gone back to better levels. We know, too, that women are more likely to work in the public sector, where there hasn’t been a pay rise,” she said.

The overall pay gap has narrowed to its smallest-ever level, of 9.1 per cent, down from 17.4 per cent in 1997.