Pay gap between sexes persisting

The pay gap between the sexes is continuing, the ONS says

Men are continuing to earn considerably more than women, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

On average UK men earn £569 a week whereas women earn just £436, the ONS said, equivalent to an annual pay gap of nearly £7,000.

The pay gap between the sexes is widest in the prosperous south east of England and London.

In the capital, men earn £223 a week more than women, while in the South East the gap is £150 on average.

At the other end of the scale, the smallest gaps between men and women's pay are in Northern Ireland, just £85, and the north east of England, where it is £105.

The earnings figures are contained in the ONS Regional Trends report, which contains detailed figures on population, education, housing, health, the environment and travel.

Other facts revealed by the report include:

• Households in the north west of England produced the most waste with 26kg a week, while London households produced the least with 20kg

• Nearly a third of non-married people live with someone in the south east and south west of England, compared with one in five in Scotland

• Housing was the most expensive in London and cheapest in the north east of England

• Death rates were highest in Scotland and Wales but lowest in London and Northern Ireland

• Stansted is the UK's fastest growing airport, It saw a four-fold increase in international passengers between 1998 and 2004. Airports at Edinburgh, Bristol and East Midlands also grew rapidly.