- A shocking 90% of Barbie’s jobs pay men more money for doing the same thing
- Only six out of 59 (10%) roles analysed showed females to earn more than their male counterparts
- The top pay disparity role is a Judge; If Ken was a judge, he’d be paid 31% more than Barbie doing the same role
Lifetime salary difference between Barbie and Ken
Barbie’s astounding CV across the occupations with data available and the number of years worked in each role was analysed to calculate the earning disparity should Ken have the same resume.
In the UK, Barbie’s lifetime salary across the 59 roles with data available would total a whopping £45.4 million (£45,428,296), whereas Ken would earn over £4 million more (£49,554,215).
Which Barbie occupations have the greatest gender pay gap?
Over the years, Barbie has made gigantic leaps for gender bias and equality throughout her lifetime. With the brand providing Barbie with careers where women are woefully sparse, Barbie has been a stable game-changer, showcasing to young children all over the globe that you can live your dream and be who you want to be.
However, despite efforts and campaigns by women’s rights groups to close the gender pay gap, it still exists. Two known major contributors to the gender pay gap are fewer females working managerial or senior roles and women working part-time.
Top 5 Barbie occupations where females are paid more than males in the UK:
| Occupation (UK) | Pay Gap (%) |
| Film director | 9.15% |
| Aerobics instructor | 6.45% |
| Yoga teacher | 6.45% |
| Wildlife conservationist | 3.44% |
| Coffee shop worker | 2.58% |
Top 5 Barbie occupations where males are paid more than females in the UK:
| Occupation (UK) | Pay Gap (%) |
| Judge | 31.30% |
| Flight attendant | 23.93% |
| Park ranger | 21.11% |
| Construction worker | 20.01% |
| Doctor | 19.69% |
Which of Barbie’s occupations are the highest paying for females in the UK?
| Occupation | UK average paygap | UK average earnings male | UK average earnings female |
| Surgeon | 17.27% | £75,649 | £62,582 |
| Doctor | 19.69% | £68,766 | £55,225 |
| Paramedic | 15.32% | £53,702 | £45,474 |
| Judge | 31.30% | £62,206 | £42,736 |
| Robotics engineering | 12.11% | £48,253 | £42,408 |
Four out of five of Barbie’s highest paying roles sit within the STEM industry, with not a single one paying females more than males.
Of the highest paid positions, Judge Barbie has the highest salary difference with Men earning £19,470 on average more than females.
Which of Barbie’s occupations are the lowest paying for females in the UK?
| Occupation | UK average paygap | UK average earnings male | UK average earnings female |
| Park ranger | 21.11% | £22,432 | £17,697 |
| Hair stylist | 9.41% | £20,784 | £18,829 |
| Waitress | 1.98% | £19,220 | £18,839 |
| Make-up artist | 8.99% | £21,055 | £19,163 |
| Cashier | 8.83% | £21,207 | £19,335 |
Out of the lowest paying job positions, Park ranger Barbie has the greatest difference with men earning on average £4.7k (21.1%) more than women in the same role.
Commenting on the analysis, money.co.uk’s business bank account expert Lucinda O’Brien said:
“Children’s career aspirations have long been defined by gender stereotypes; it’s therefore refreshing and positive to see Barbie working a whole variety of jobs (president being one of them!) in the latest live action Barbie movie. Young girls watching their favourite doll in roles that they might have otherwise seen as not for them, can only serve to encourage positive change.
However, even with Barbie working across a wide variety of job sectors in recent years representing females in largely male dominated positions, women continue to be misrepresented in the working world. Although there are current laws in place ensuring equal pay, the data still reveals men continue to be favoured in the workplace. More measurable steps need to be taken to re-address this balance.”
Methodology:
Money.co.uk analysed 59 roles represented by different dolls in Barbie’s “career” and each occupation against 2022 median fulltime pay data from UK ONS and US Bureau of Labour Statistics and categorised each role against the occupation type available – where data for a specific occupation wasn’t available the median fulltime pay for the group of occupations it belonged to was substituted.
To calculate the lifetime salary totals, the total number of years worked in each occupation was calculated from the year the doll was launched and the average 2022 salary for that occupation – no adjustment was made for real world average salary changes over that period.
Earnings for ‘Ken’ assumed he worked the same jobs for the same amount of time regardless of when or whether an equivalent doll was released.
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Image by ErikaWittlieb from Pixabay
