Diversity Pay Gap Report

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 third year where we can report across all four protected characteristics, and our data is continuing to improve. 

We have seen a significant shift in our gender pay gap. As of April 2025, it has reduced to 1.7%, down from 5% in 2024 and well below the national average of 12.8%. This follows a consistent downward trend over recent years and reflects the impact of the focused actions and initiatives we have put in place.

This is a real achievement, and our ambition now is to maintain this position within the threshold and as close to zero as possible.

We also saw continued narrowing of our ethnicity (-3.7%), disability (-3.9%), and LGB+ (-0.3%) pay gaps, which, while still in favour of colleagues with Protected Characteristics, demonstrates progress in the right direction. As our data set grows, we remain committed to extending our reporting to include LGBT+ pay gaps once we have a robust and reliable sample size, having only begun capturing this data over the past year.  

These improvements reflect the hard work of colleagues across Barnardo’s who are committed to creating a fairer and more equitable workplace. They also reflect a growing confidence among our workforce to disclose their Protected Characteristics, supported through our ‘This is Me’ campaign. This is a trust we do not take lightly. Accurate data helps us understand where inequality may exist, but it is the honesty and openness of our colleagues that enables us to act with integrity and purpose. 

While the progress shown in this report is heartening, we know there is still more to do. We continue to see some disparities which highlight that career progression, balanced representation in senior roles, and the wider factors that shape opportunity must remain at the forefront of our actions. Our learning offer and leadership development pathways, inclusive recruitment practices, and strengthened pay governance processes are all designed to address these challenges directly. 

We also recognise that equity extends beyond pay. That is why we are deepening our focus on pension gaps, financial wellbeing, inclusive workplace practices, alongside our other commitments. These actions are not simply charity priorities; they are an essential part of how we demonstrate our values in action. 

We remain steadfast in our ambition: to make sure Barnardo’s is a place where everyone can belong, grow, and thrive - because equity within our charity strengthens our ability to drive change for children and young people, and deliver excellent and inclusive services that meet their needs. 

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. We will be considering how we use this information in respect of future pay gap reporting.