Picture a woman in her mid-40s, juggling a demanding job with the needs of teenage children and aging parents, only to discover that her male counterpart, with similar experience, earns significantly more. This stark reality is not an isolated case but a growing trend for many women over 40 in the UK, where the gender pay gap for this age group has widened to 9.1% in 2025, even as the overall gap for full-time employees has narrowed to 6.9%. What drives this disparity at a stage when financial stability is often most critical? The answer lies in a complex web of societal, economic, and structural challenges that demand urgent exploration.
The Hidden Cost of Mid-Life for Women
This troubling divergence in earnings isn’t just a number—it’s a barrier to security and recognition for countless women at a pivotal point in their careers. For those aged 40 to 49, the widening pay gap means diminished lifetime earnings, smaller pension funds, and fewer chances to climb the corporate ladder. The stakes are high, as this demographic often faces peak financial responsibilities, from funding education to planning for retirement.
Beyond individual impact, this issue reflects broader systemic failures in how society values women’s contributions. As the workforce ages, overlooking the economic challenges faced by mid-life women risks undermining overall progress toward pay equity. Addressing this disparity is not merely a matter of fairness but a necessity for building a sustainable and inclusive economy.
Root Causes Behind the Growing Divide
Several intertwined factors fuel the expanding pay gap for women over 40. A primary driver is the “motherhood penalty,” where career breaks or reduced hours for childcare result in lasting setbacks in earnings and promotions. Data from the Office for National Statistics reveals that the gap for women aged 40 to 49 increased from 8.9% to 9.1% between 2024 and 2025, highlighting the persistent impact of earlier life choices.
Another significant burden is the “sandwich generation” effect, where many women in this age bracket care for both children and elderly relatives. This dual responsibility often forces a shift to part-time roles or complete exits from the workforce, limiting access to higher-paying positions. High childcare costs and scarce affordable care options only deepen this challenge, creating a cycle of financial disadvantage.
Systemic workplace barriers also play a critical role. Opportunities for returning mothers to reclaim senior roles are often scarce, with rigid structures favoring uninterrupted career paths. This leaves many women over 40 stuck in lower-paid or part-time positions, unable to close the earnings gap with their male peers despite comparable skills and experience.
Hearing from Those Who Know
Experts and real-life stories bring clarity to the structural issues at play. Ken Mulkearn, director of research at Incomes Data Research, emphasizes the long-term toll of the motherhood penalty, stating, “Career interruptions for childcare disproportionately hit women in their 40s, creating a ripple effect on earnings that lasts decades.” His analysis points to a need for deeper policy interventions to address these ingrained disparities.
Melissa Blissett, pay gap analytics lead at Barnett Waddingham, sheds light on the caregiving crunch, sharing the story of a client in her mid-40s—a seasoned professional who struggled to return to a leadership role after a career break. “Inflexible workplace policies forced her into a lower-paying job, despite her qualifications,” Blissett notes. This example illustrates how outdated systems fail to accommodate the realities of mid-life women.
These insights reveal a shared understanding among specialists that the challenges are not merely personal but rooted in broader cultural and organizational norms. The combination of expert analysis and lived experiences paints a vivid picture of why the pay gap persists and widens for this specific group, urging a rethinking of how careers are structured.
Strategies to Narrow the Divide
Tackling this issue requires a blend of policy reforms and workplace innovations. Mulkearn advocates for legislative measures, such as mandating employers to report pay disparities by age group, to expose hidden inequities and push for accountability. Such transparency could catalyze action by making the problem impossible to ignore, especially for women over 40 who are often overlooked in broader pay gap discussions.
At the organizational level, Blissett proposes reimagining job design by converting full-time roles into part-time or shared positions. This approach offers flexibility for women balancing multiple responsibilities while redirecting surplus salary to support other female employees in taking on expanded roles with fair pay. Additionally, enhancing benefits like pension contributions during maternity leave and equalizing paternity leave policies could help balance the playing field over time.
Employers must also focus on ensuring that returning mothers face no penalties in promotions or opportunities. Creating pathways for career progression that don’t hinge on continuous full-time work is essential. These actionable steps, if widely adopted, could dismantle barriers and foster an environment where mid-life women are valued equally for their contributions, paving the way for lasting change.
Reflecting on Paths Forward
Looking back, the persistent widening of the gender pay gap to 9.1% for women aged 40 to 49 stood as a stark reminder of how far systemic change still needs to go, despite the overall gap shrinking to 6.9% for full-time employees. The motherhood penalty and dual caregiving demands emerged as central culprits, disproportionately impacting this demographic at a critical life stage.
Yet, hope lingered in the solutions that surfaced through expert dialogue and data-driven insights. Moving forward, implementing legislative transparency, redesigning roles for flexibility, and ensuring equitable career paths promised to chip away at these disparities. The challenge ahead lay in mobilizing employers, policymakers, and society to prioritize these reforms, ensuring that mid-life women no longer bear the brunt of inequality but instead thrive alongside their peers.
