Gender Pay Gap Report

Introduction

This report contains the statutory disclosure of the gender pay gap for Kids Planet Day Nurseries Limited.

All companies with 250 or more employees are now required to publish their gender pay gap under new legislation that came into force in April 2017. Employers have to publish the gap in pay between men and women on both a median basis (pay per hour based on the person “in the middle” of the distribution of pay) and a mean basis (average hourly salary).

In addition employers are required to disclose the distribution of gender by pay quartile – in other words splitting the workforce into four groups based on their pay, and showing the proportion of men and women in each group.

The report also needs to show the proportion of males and females receiving a bonus.

We should be clear that gender pay does not mean the same as equal pay. The concept of equal pay was set out in the Equality Act of 2010 and is based on the legal right to equal pay for all employees – whether as individuals or in groups – performing the same or comparable work.

Mean vs Median

The gender pay gap reporting regulations specifically require both the median and mean to be reported. These metrics are complimentary and illustrate different aspects of the distribution of pay across an organisation.

The reasons behind gender pay gap are complex. Some of the reasons are likely to be outside the control of the employer.

The Mean

The mean is an overall average of the whole sample and therefore can be subject to the influences of extremely high or extremely low salaries at the top of the bottom of the sample. It is therefore more subject to skewing by a small number of salaries in the outer regions of the range.

The Median

The median looks at the central tendency of the market or sample, showing the middle-most salary of a sample in a range.

Statutory Reporting

The information below gives the statutory disclosure for Kids Planet Day Nurseries Limited at the snapshot date of 5 th April 2025. It is based on the hourly rates of pay as at the snapshot date of 5 th April 2025.

The Early Years Sector has predominantly female staff members, with market salaries on these roles typically starting at National Minimum Wage. At Kids Planet, we pay slightly higher than this, and have stepped increases as our employees progress through their supported qualification journey.

However, in common with the sector, Practitioners working in our nurseries are predominantly female. In support functions, there is a more balanced gender profile, with pay in these roles also reflecting market salaries which are typically higher than Practitioner role salaries.

As a result of the imbalance between those two parts of the business, our smaller population of male staff members have a higher skew towards the higher paid quartiles, and therefore show as having a higher Mean, and slightly higher Median salary.

Despite efforts to attract males into this sector, the relative proportion of men in practitioner roles reduced further in the year, which has widened the Mean measure further.

We are committed to promoting equal pay across all roles, and continue to look for ways to attract males into the Early Years sector.

Gender pay gap

Mean: 15.4%
Median: 2.7%

Bonus payments were made in the year of which 97% were paid to female employees. Only 8 bonuses were paid to male colleagues, which has dramatically skewed the calculations on both Mean and Median bonus payments.

Gender bonus pay gap

Mean: 88%
Median: 89%

Gender bonus proportion

Female: 4%
Male: 4%

Pay Quartile by gender

The figures set out below have been calculated using the standard methodologies used in the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017.

Lower Quartile
Female: 98%
Male: 2%

Lower Middle Quartile
Female: 97%
Male: 3%

Upper Middle Quartile
Female: 96%
Male: 4%

Upper Quartile
Female: 93%
Male: 7%

Looking beyond the figures

Kids Planet is confident that men and women are paid equally for doing equivalent jobs across the group. We regularly conduct pay reviews to ensure fairness with regard to gender and diversity characteristics.

Kids Planet believes and promotes an inclusive culture, one where the benefit of diversity is appreciated and welcomed. We welcome applications for roles from different genders; all age groups; all ethnicities; applicants with different sexual orientations and or disabilities. Applicants are judged on the skills and experience that they are able to bring to the vacancy.

Our analysis tells us that our gender pay gap (as of April 2025) is as a result of having fewer men across the business, with the men that we currently employ sitting predominantly in central roles which are in the higher quartiles.

Summary by Clare Roberts, CEO

Kids Planet employs 96% women across the group. This has resulted in skewed figures on the gender pay gap reporting above as the workforce is predominantly female.

The challenge in the early years sector is to attract more male employees. We believe that having more males in the workforce would end the stereotype of childcare being seen as ‘women’s work’ and would help to support the importance of male role models to young children, both boys and girls, particularly for those children growing up in families with little or no contact with males.

Whilst actively encouraging men to join the group, we do not lose site of the fact that we are a sector that attracts many women. We are then able to provide support and development to help all staff members achieve their maximum potential.

Moving forward, we would like to close the gender pay gap but are aware that such a significant change will take time. Until we see an increase in the number of male entrants into the sector, this will be difficult to achieve. We however are committed to ensuring that we provide gender equality across our business both from professional and pay perspectives.