What is the LGBTQ+ wage gap, and how can we fight it?
LGBTQIA+ employees are often paid less than their straight counterparts, data shows. What can we do to close the gap? WORDS BY NICOLE GARCÍA MÉRIDA HEADER BY YOSEF PHELAN Minorities never really need to look at data to confirm they’re being discriminated against.
We see it, we feel it, we experience it in the flesh — yet several studies have demonstrated the existence of an LGBTQIA+ wage gap.
A survey carried out by YouGov in 2019, commissioned by LinkedIn and UK Black Pride, found that LGBTQIA+ people in the UK earn around £7,000 less than their straight counterparts.
In his 2022 paper, Professor Nick Drydakis from Anglia Ruskin University found that gay men’s earnings were 6.8% lower than those of comparable straight men, while bisexual men’s earnings were 10.3% lower than those of heterosexual men.
