Britain will require employers to publish salaries in job advertisements, Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced on Thursday, as part of efforts to reduce the number of young people not in work, education or training.
The government said mandatory pay disclosure in job ads would help young people applying for their first jobs, while also boosting pay transparency and helping address disparities that can disadvantage women.
Just over two in five employers always publish salary ranges, while fewer than one in five always disclose specific salaries, Burnham's office said, citing estimates from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
"Whether you're a young person starting out or a parent trying to support your family, you should know what a job pays before spending your time and effort applying for it," Burnham said in a statement.
The government will soon introduce legislation to parliament making salary disclosure mandatory, Burnham's office said, though it did not provide a timeline.
Nearly one million people, or 13%, of 16- to 24-year-olds in Britain are not in employment, education or training — one of the highest shares in Europe. A government review into youth inactivity is due to be published later in November.
The measure is part of a broader push to increase pay transparency. New York became the largest US city to require most private employers to disclose salary ranges in 2022, and the European Union adopted pay transparency rules the following year, giving member states until June 2026 to implement them in national law.