BRIDGING THE GENDER PAY GAP

Whenever I hear the word ‘pension’ I feel a yawn coming on! I was guilty of finding anything else more exciting than pension planning. That was until I learnt just how important it is to not only think about your future and plan accordingly, but also how even in an industry as forward-thinking as ours, there is a huge gender gap issue that’s becoming more prevalent. Despite the majority of hairdressers being women, our male counterparts often end up with bigger pay checks and much bigger pension pots come retirement. Research from the Pensions Policy Institute shows that by the time women hit the new state pension age of 67 in 2026, we’re expected to have saved about £69,000 for retirement, but men will have about £205,000. How does that happen?

CAREER BREAKS AND MUM LIFE

One of the biggest reasons for this gap comes down to many women in our industry taking career breaks to have children and raise families, often choosing part-time roles to juggle these responsibilities. Unfortunately, these roles come with lower wages and fewer benefits – including pensions.

CLIMBING THE LADDER

Our industry has plenty of women killing it as salon owners and entrepreneurs – fantastic!But there’s still a gap when it comes to the really high-earning positions and opportunities. For example, most of the top roles such as senior salon managers or celeb stylists usually go to men. This imbalance doesn’t just affect salaries; it impacts things such as pensions down the line. And to those women who are running their own businesses and are in senior roles, I want to ask: are you taking care of your financial future as much as you’re taking care of your business’s?

TIP DISTRIBUTION

We all know how much tips can contribute to what you take home. There’s observational evidence that I see every month in our Easy Tip reports that male stylists receive more generous tips. This may be due to clients perceiving them to have more expertise.

ASKING FOR MORE

Women are generally less likely to push hard when it comes to negotiating a salary increase. Many salons don’t have a clear progression path that outlines salary bands and how to get an increase in wages. Not asking for more can mean getting less over time. Let’s discuss this gap and what it means for our futures, not just here but at industry events, to your accountant, in your salons and in your appraisals. Conversations lead to awareness, and awareness can lead to action. What can we do to fix this? Well there are several ways to start tackling this problem:

“There’s still a gap when it comes to the really high-earning positions and opportunities”

PLAN FOR THE FUTURE

For business owners and freelancers, it’s crucial to start planning for retirement early. I have a Self-Invested Personal Pension (Sipp), which gives you the flexibility to choose your own investments and the freedom to manage them how you want. If you’re a limited company, you’ll also benefit from corporation tax benefits for investing in your Sipp, which for me is a no-brainer.

TALK TO YOUR MANAGER

Encourage your salons to formalise their pay and promotion practices. Having a clear structure in place could help prevent unconscious biases from impacting who receives what.

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

Let’s offer negotiation skills and financial planning workshops specifically for women in our field, to equip them to fight for fair pay and better retirement set-ups.

We know our industry is all about creativity and community. We are progressive in so many ways that this gender gap seems so archaic.

Addressing this gap isn’t just about being fair, it’s about ensuring our industry stays successful, dynamic and attractive to future generations.