BAME women are lowest-earning barristers, study finds

updated on 10 November 2020

Recent figures published by the Bar Standards Board (BSB) indicate that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) women are the lowest paid barristers. Meanwhile, their white male colleagues receive the highest incomes.

"Income differences are particularly stark when looking at gender and ethnicity together," according to the report, "with female BAME barristers the lowest-earning group, and white male barristers the highest-earning group."

When considering the ethnicity pay gap in terms of the wider profession, the disparity in earnings remains; BAME lawyers working at similar levels of seniority, in the same parts of England and Wales, or practising in similar areas of the law as their white counterparts are earning less.

In terms of ethnicity alone, the study published by the BSB highlighted that 56% of BAME barristers were declaring incomes of less than £90,000 per annum, with only 37% of their white counterparts earning less than this amount.