UK Salary by Age Group 2026

The detail

The age-earnings profile for UK full-time employees rises sharply through one's 20s, continues to climb into the early 40s, and then flattens or declines slightly from the mid-50s onwards. This follows the classic "human capital curve" — experience and specialisation accumulate, before plateauing near retirement age.

Specifically (ONS ASHE 2025 median full-time annual pay): 22-29 → £32,347; 30-39 → £40,668; 40-49 → £44,244; 50-59 → £41,866; 60+ → £36,467.

The drop in later years partly reflects retirement-adjacent part-time or reduced-hours work even among those still classified "full-time". It also reflects cohort effects (today's 60+ workers started their careers under different pay structures than today's 30-somethings).

The gender pay gap widens with age — for full-time employees it is close to zero in the 20s (0.9% at ages 22-29, ONS ASHE 2025), rising to 3.9% at 30-39, 9.1% at 40-49 and around 12-13% from the 50s on. This is primarily attributed to childcare-driven career interruptions rather than pay discrimination at any single point in a career.