We want our colleagues to feel they belong and can grow and thrive with us.
To make this happen we need to continue to attract, recruit and progress colleagues who represent the diverse communities of children, young people and families we serve across the UK.
Understanding, reporting, and acting on our pay gaps for colleagues with protected characteristics is a key part of how we will achieve this. This is alongside our wider commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.
Our latest Diversity Pay Gap Report includes:
- Our gender pay gap (which is a statutory requirement).
- Data on pay for colleagues who are Black and Minoritised Ethnic1.
- Data on pay for disabled2 colleagues.
- Data on pay for colleagues who identify as LGB+3.
We’ve been working to improve our reporting every year. This is the second year where we can report across all four protected characteristics, and our data is continuing to improve.
Gender pay gap
Our latest report is based on data from April 2024, which shows that with 84% of our colleagues being female, Barnardo’s overall median gender pay gap was 5% in favour of men; and our mean gender pay gap was 12% in favour of men. Our median gap has reduced by 2.7% this year – continuing our downward trajectory and putting us even further ahead of the national average of 13.1%.
Our goal is, of course, to seek to eliminate our pay gap, and we are focused on the work we need to do to get there.
Diversity pay gaps
Our wider diversity pay gap analysis shows that we have a -6.85% median pay gap in favour of Black and Minoritised Ethnic colleagues; a -4.56% median pay gap in favour of colleagues with a disability, and a slight gap of 2.56% favouring heterosexual colleagues. However, we are conscious that for all these characteristics, our sample sizes are smaller, so we are cautious in drawing conclusions.
Taking action
While we celebrate the progress we’ve made, we also recognise that the journey is ongoing, and there is still much more to do. This includes further work to attract, recruit and retain a diverse and representative cohort of colleagues and to build an environment where more colleagues feel able to disclose their protected characteristics.
One of the most significant shifts this year is the improvement in our data integrity, thanks to the launch of our ‘This is Me’ campaign. The campaign encouraged colleagues to confidentially disclose their protected characteristics. It also asks them to disclose if they had care experience, in line with our values, history, and commitment to providing opportunities to those who grew up in foster care and children’s homes.
While the campaign launched towards the end of 2023/24 (so the impact will be greater in next year’s data) it has already led to a marked increase in self-disclosure rates. This is improving our data accuracy and allowing us to make more informed decisions to close any gaps.
We have a number of initiatives already on track to address these gaps, including:
- Continuing to assess our pay governance measures, to ensure our approach remains aligned with our core values.
- Introducing a biannual check on pay gaps (including deeper, and intersectional dives into our data). This will enable us to more closely monitor trends and identify causes, as well as to take informed action, with our primary focus on closing our gender gap.
- Exploring the calculation of both 'adjusted' and 'non-adjusted' pay gaps, to better understand our pay gaps by factoring in variables such as job roles and directorate breakdowns.
- The introduction of ‘Belonging Boards.’ These are groups of colleagues at a directorate level, focusing on addressing specific pay gaps and driving recruitment and progression in areas where there is underrepresentation across the charity.
However, we understand that reducing pay gaps is just one part of the broader picture in achieving equality and fairness in the workplace. We also remain steadfast in our commitment to taking meaningful action in all areas of diversity and inclusion – from our four thriving colleague networks to our strategic Anti-Racism commitment and Disability Equality Commitment.
We will continue to work towards our strategic objective to deliver excellent and inclusive services that meet the needs of all children and families who need us. We’ll also strive to create an environment where every colleague can reach their full potential, and where diversity is truly celebrated.
Footnotes
1. Ethnicity: We have used Black and Minoritised Ethnic as a collective term throughout. We acknowledge that colleagues may describe themselves in diverse ways, including as Black, Brown, as ‘people of colour’ and/or as members of Global Majority Communities. Our commitments support all Barnardo’s colleagues and service users who experience racism.
2. Disability is self-identified and is defined as any physical or mental health condition or impairment which has a substantial impact on carrying out day to day activities and has lasted 12 months or more or is likely to last 12 months or more.
3. LGB+ includes data categories bisexual, gay man, gay woman/lesbian, or ‘something else’. We did not capture data for colleagues who are Trans, prior to early 2024. However, we have now addressed this issue, are collecting data for colleagues who are Trans, and should be able to do so in future reports.
Annual Report
The behind-the-scenes. Check out our latest Annual Report and Accounts to learn more about where our funding comes from and how we’re using it to drive change for children, young people and families.
Our impact
For children and young people, the world has changed a huge amount in the past few years. Find out how we’ve been supporting them throughout.
Our strategy
We’re focused on changing childhoods and changing lives. A huge amount of change is needed, but we know we can’t do everything, and we need to focus our efforts and energies where we can make the biggest difference.