1975 – The Hotel and Catering Economic Committee suggested on the basis of low pay of 60 pence an hour for men and 55 pence an hour for women, 49 per cent of full-time men and 88 per cent of full-time women in hotels and catering were low paid, compared to 11 per cent and 53 per cent in ‘all industries’ across the economy. 1986 – Byrne estimated that between 57 and 64 per cent of full-time workers in hotel and catering employment were low paid (i.e. defined as earning less than two-thirds of male median earnings). 1989 – A British Hotels, Restaurants and Caterers Association survey revealed catering managers earned 27 per cent less than average non-manual workers and non-manual employees earned 28 per cent less than the average for manual workers. 1999 – The Office of National Statistics New Earnings Survey 1999 found that waiters/ waitresses (average gross annual salary £8879), along with kitchen porters and kitchen hands (average weekly wage £180.50) were the lowest paid of all UK employees (the average yearly pay across all occupations was £20 919). 2003 – The Office of National Statistics New Earnings Survey 2003 found that hotel and restaurant employees were the lowest paid in the country. Average gross annual pay for full time restaurant and hotel employees was just £16 533, compared to a UK average of £25 170. 2005 – The Office of National Statistics Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2005 found that hotels and restaurants had the lowest median gross annual earnings at £14 653. The highest paying sector was financial intermediation at £29 962. The median for all industries and services was £22 903. Derived from Wood (1997a); Bozec (1999); Anon (2003); IRS (2006a).
