Average earnings and hours of work
Summary
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published provisional estimates from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) for April 2019. ASHE does not cover the self-employed or employees not paid during the reference period. Related statistical bulletins and links to the associated data tables can be found via the ONS website.
A note of caution about the data
Owing to the sample methodology used to compile the ASHE data, interpretation of the estimated figures requires considerable caution as the results have very wide margins of error and can produce volatile results from year to year. The estimated earnings, hours and percentage change figures should therefore be taken as a guide, rather than definitive results. They provide an idea of the relative differences between areas. Estimates for individual authorities within Northern Ireland are not available. The provisional data may be revised in the future. Analysis of the estimates over a number of years is recommended to identify trends and any potential anomalies in the data.
Residence-based median weekly earnings
The median gross weekly earnings for residents (all employees) in the Lancashire-12 area was £447.10 in April 2019. This was £32.00, or 6.7%, lower than the UK figure of £479.10. Residence-based gross weekly median earnings had grown provisionally by 4.8% in the Lancashire-12 area over the year. This was greater than the annual percentage increase of 4.2% in UK.
In the Lancashire-14 area, residence-based gross median weekly earnings for all employees were estimated at £435.30, some £43.80, or 9.1% lower than the UK. The Lancashire-14 estimate had increased provisionally by 4.3%, slightly lower than the Lancashire-12 area. However, the rise was marginally higher than the UK annual percentage increase of 4.2%.
Fylde (£535.60) and Ribble Valley (£515.40) were the only authorities in the Lancashire-14 area that had residence-based median weekly earnings above the UK figure of £479.10. Eleven of the Lancashire-14 authorities fell in the lower half of the GB rankings (please note that earnings for individual authorities within Northern Ireland are not available).
Blackpool (£379.00) recorded the lowest residence-based median weekly estimate in the Lancashire-14 area. This was the fourth lowest estimate in Great Britain out of 370 local authority areas with residence-based estimates (please note that earnings for individual authorities within Northern Ireland are not available). The Blackpool estimate was 20.9% (£100.10), or over a fifth, below the UK median figure (£479.10).
Wyre (£398.90) had the lowest estimate in the Lancashire-12 area, and second lowest in the Lancashire-14 area, 16.7% (£80.20), or a sixth, below the UK median figure, falling in the lowest seven percent of the GB rankings (25th lowest).
The estimate for Blackburn with Darwen (£399.50) was the third lowest in the Lancashire-14 area and the 26th lowest in Great Britain, ranked just above Wyre (25th lowest) in the GB rankings (and in the lowest 7% of the GB rankings). The Blackburn with Darwen residence-based estimate was 16.6% (£79.60) or a sixth lower than the UK median figure.
Workplace-based median weekly earnings
Workplace-based gross weekly median earnings for all employees in the Lancashire-12 area were provisionally estimated at £428.50, which was £50.60, or 8.3%, below the UK figure of £479.10.
For the Lancashire-14 area, the workplace-based median weekly earnings were also £428.80, again 10.3% lower than the UK.
Workplace-based gross weekly earnings had increased in the year to April 2019 by 1.6% in the Lancashire-12 area and by 3.8% in the Lancashire-14 area, both lower than the 4.2% rise for the UK.
Fylde (£545.90) and Ribble Valley (£516.40) were the only Lancashire-14 authorities to record estimates of median weekly workplace earnings above the UK figure of £479.10. The figure for Fylde was ahead of the UK figure by a considerable margin (£66.80 or 13.9%) and was ranked in 38th position out of 371 local authority areas with workplace-based estimates. The authority contains a major BAE Systems site, and also has the nuclear fuels site at Springfields both of which provide high value jobs. The gap between the estimated workplace-based weekly earnings of Fylde and Ribble Valley was £29.50.
The figure for Ribble Valley (£516.40) was 7.8% (£37.30) above the UK median average and ranked in 56th place, or in the top sixth of the GB rankings. The BAE Systems site at Samlesbury straddles the border of Ribble Valley and South Ribble local authorities, and again provides high value employment.
Wyre (£385.30) had the lowest workplace-based estimate in both the Lancashire-12 and Lancashire-14 areas, some 19.6% (£93.80) below the UK median average and was the 33rd lowest in the GB rankings (in the bottom 10%).
Blackpool (£388.20) had the second lowest workplace-based estimate in the Lancashire-14 area, 19.0% (£90.90) below the UK median average and was the 37th lowest in the GB rankings (also in the bottom 10%).
Overall, eight of the Lancashire-14 areas had workplace-based weekly median earnings estimates that were more than 10% below the UK figure (£479.10), ranging from 11.2% (£53.60) lower in Pendle (£425.50), to 19.6% (£93.80) lower in Wyre (£385.30). These eight areas were in the lowest third of the GB rankings for workplace-based median earnings.
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Median gross weekly pay is displayed for the 15 Lancashire local authorities, the Lancashire-14 area, North West region and the United Kingdom in the Microsoft Power BI slides below. Click on the diagonal double-ended arrow at the bottom right of the above table to enter full screen mode. Click the arrows next to the '1 to 2' label at the bottom of the table to move through figures 1 and 2. |
Figures 1 and 2: Median gross weekly pay, all employees on adult rates of pay, residence-based and workplace-based, April 2019 provisional figures
Source: Office for National Statistics - Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, provisional estimates, 2019.
Differences between residence-based full-time weekly earnings and part-time weekly earnings (for all persons, males and females)
Residence-based differences - part-time v full-time
Unsurprisingly, part-time earnings are a lot lower than full-time earnings. For males, residence-based median part-time earnings were about 29-31% of the earnings of their full-time male counterparts in Lancashire (UK = 29%). For females, part-time earnings in Lancashire represented about 41.5% of the earnings of their full-time female counterparts (UK = 38%). For all persons, part-time earnings in Lancashire represented about 36% of their full-time counterparts (UK = 34%).
Workplace-based differences - part-time v full-time
For males, workplace-based median part-time earnings were about 29-31% of the earnings of their full-time male counterparts in Lancashire (UK = 29%). For females, part-time earnings in Lancashire represented about 43-44% of the earnings of their full-time female counterparts (UK = 38%). For all persons, workplace-based part-time earnings in Lancashire represented about 35-36% of their full-time counterparts (UK = 34%).
Median weekly earnings - gender analysis
Residence-based median weekly earnings - gender analysis
For all males (residence-based), median weekly earnings were greater than those for all females in the Lancashire-12 area (by +169.20 (31.8%)), in the Lancashire-14 area (by +£154.70 (30.1%)) and in the UK (by +187.10 (32.5%)).
Median weekly earnings for full-time males (residence-based) were greater than those for full-time females in the Lancashire-12 area (by +97.20 (16.5%)), in the Lancashire-14 area (by +£91.20 (16.0%)) and in the UK (by +100.60 (16.0%)).
Only the median weekly earnings for part-time females (residence-based) were greater than those for part-time males. Part-time female weekly earnings were greater than their male part-time counterparts by £34.00 (16.7%) in the Lancashire-12 area, by £19.00 (9.5%) in the Lancashire-14 area, but by a lower £12.60 (8.3%) in the UK.
Workplace-based median weekly earnings - gender analysis
For all males (workplace-based), median weekly earnings were greater than those for all females in the Lancashire-12 area (by +183.20 (35.0%), in the Lancashire-14 area (by +£165.50 (32.3%)) and in the UK (by +187.00 (32.5%). The Lancashire-12 and Lancashire-14 differences (for earnings and percentage) were greater than those for the residence-based earnings.
Median weekly earnings for full-time males (workplace-based) were greater than those for full-time females in the Lancashire-12 area (by +129.50 (22.4%)), in the Lancashire-14 area (by +£108.10 (19.0%)) and in the UK (by +100.60 (16.0%)).
Only the median weekly earnings for part-time females (workplace-based) were greater than those for part-time males. Part-time female weekly earnings were greater than their male part-time counterparts by £29.10 (14.8%) in the Lancashire-12 area, by £24.10 (12.1%) in the Lancashire-14 area, but by a lower £16.70 (8.3%) in the UK.
Residence-based v workplace-based earnings
Chorley, Burnley, Hyndburn and Lancaster appear to benefit the most from outward commuter flows, travelling to other higher value work locations, some outside of the Lancashire-14 area, as the residence-based weekly earnings are greater than the workplace-based weekly earnings in these areas, particularly in Chorley. The residence-based figure for Chorley was a substantial £79.60 per week higher than the workplace estimate. The weekly residence-based figures were £41.00 greater in Burnley, £40.40 greater in Hyndburn and £36.20 higher in Lancaster.
Conversely, for Blackburn with Darwen and Preston, median workplace-based weekly earnings are higher than their respective residence-based earnings. The workplace-based figure for Blackburn with Darwen was £54.60 per week greater than the residence-based estimate. For Preston, the weekly workplace-based estimate was £38.70 greater than the residence-based estimate.
Residence-based median paid hours worked per week (provisional)
The residence-based median number of paid hours worked per week in the Lancashire-12 and Lancashire-14 areas are the same as, or only marginally lower than, those worked at the UK level for five of the nine employee categories. These five are the full-time male employee category (38.5 hours), full-time female employees (37.4 hours), all full-time employees (37.5 hours), plus all male employees (37.5 hours) and the all employees category (37.0 hours).
For the three part-time employee categories, the residence-based median number of paid hours worked in the Lancashire-12 and Lancashire-14 areas are slightly higher than those worked at the UK level. The estimates for male part-time employees are Lancashire-14 = 18.4 hours, Lancashire-12 = 18.0 hours and UK = 17.5 hours. For female part-time employees the estimates are Lancashire-14 = 19.9 hours, Lancashire-12 = 20.0 hours and UK = 19.4 hours. For all part-time employees the estimates are Lancashire-14 = 19.6 hours, Lancashire-12 = 19.6 hours and UK = 18.8 hours.
Contrary to the above, for the all females category, the residence-based median number of paid hours worked in the Lancashire-12 and Lancashire-14 areas are lower than those worked at the UK level (32.5 hours v 33.8 hours).
Workplace-based median paid hours worked per week (provisional)
The workplace-based median number of paid hours worked per week in the Lancashire-12 and Lancashire-14 areas are the same as those worked at the UK level for three of the nine employee categories. These three are the all full-time employees category (37.5 hours), the all males employee category (37.5 hours) and the all employees category (37.0 hours).
For the full-time female employees category, the workplace-based median number of paid hours worked per week in the Lancashire-14 area was also the same as the UK median (37.4 hours), however the Lancashire-12 median (37.1 hours) was lower.
Looking at the three part-time employee categories, the workplace-based median number of paid hours worked in the Lancashire-12 area and the Lancashire-14 area are slightly higher than those worked at the UK level. The estimates for male part-time employees are Lancashire-14 = 18.2 hours, Lancashire-12 = 18.0 hours and UK = 17.5 hours. For female part-time employees the estimates are Lancashire-14 = 19.8 hours, Lancashire-12 = 19.5 hours and UK = 19.4 hours. For all part-time employees the estimates are Lancashire-14 = 19.5 hours, Lancashire-12 = 19.0 hours and UK = 18.8 hours.
For the full-time male employees category, the workplace-based median number of paid hours worked per week in the Lancashire-12 and Lancashire-14 areas (both 38.8 hours) were higher than the UK median (38.5 hours).
Contrary to the above, for the all females category, the workplace-based median number of paid hours worked in the Lancashire-12 and Lancashire-14 areas (both 32.4 hours) are lower than those worked at the UK level (33.8 hours).
Annual median gross annual earnings by place of residence and place of work
Residence-based annual earnings
Median gross annual earnings for all employees by place of residence in UK in April 2019 stood at £24,897. For the Lancashire-12 area, the residence-based figure for all employees was £23,377, or 6.1% less than the UK figure. In the Lancashire-14 area, the residence-based figure for all employees was £22,661, or 9.0% less than the UK median average.
Fylde (£27,574) and Chorley (£25,020) were the only two local authority areas in the Lancashire-14 area where the residence-based median annual gross earnings exceeded the UK figure (£24,897) by 10.8% and 0.5%, respectively. Please note that no estimate was available for Ribble Valley. By contrast, Blackpool had the second lowest residence-based median gross annual earnings in GB, at £19,460, it was 21.8% below the UK figure. Blackburn with Darwen (£21,152) had the 34th lowest. In the Lancashire-12 area, Rossendale (£20,806), Preston (£21,688) and Burnley (£21,771) had the lowest residence-based median earnings in the 25th, 54th and 55th lowest rankings, respectively (out of 348 local authority areas with estimated figures).
Of the 13 Lancashire-14 areas that had residence-based median annual estimates of gross earnings, 11 fell in the lower half of the GB rankings.
Workplace-based annual earnings
For workplace-based earnings, the gross annual figure for the Lancashire-12 area was £22,400 for all employees, or 10.0% below the UK median (£24,897). For the Lancashire-14 area, the workplace-based median gross annual earnings for all employees were slightly lower at £22,088, or 11.3% below the UK figure.
Fylde (£29,508) and Ribble Valley (£25,445) were the only Lancashire-14 areas that had median workplace-based gross annual earnings that exceeded the UK figure (£24,897) by 18.5% and 2.2%, respectively. The figure for Fylde was the 28th highest in Great Britain, whilst the estimate for Ribble Valley was ranked in 91st place (out of 348 local authority areas with estimated figures - 23 authorities did not have estimates).
The remaining twelve Lancashire-14 areas fell in the lower half of the GB rankings of workplace-based annual median earnings.
Wyre had the lowest workplace-based median gross annual earnings estimate within the Lancashire-14 area (and the second lowest in the North West region). At £19,392, the estimate was 22.1% below the UK figure, and was ranked in the 19th lowest position in Great Britain. Burnley (£19,962) had the second lowest estimate in the Lancashire-14 area. It was 19.8% below the UK figure and was ranked in the 33rd lowest position in Great Britain.
Further analysis, data tables and graphs
Page updated 29 November 2019