Women are paid roughly 87 cents on the male dollar in the United States in 2026 and roughly 91 pence on the pound in the United Kingdom, after controlling for hours and occupation. A meaningful slice of that gap is explained by negotiation. Women ask for raises less often than men, and when they do ask, they ask for less. The research on this is uncomfortable but consistent, and the response is not to feel guilty about it — it is to do the thing properly the next time you do it.
What follows is the operational version of a raise request. The timing, the preparation, the script, and the small adjustments that work specifically for women in workplaces that pretend the playing field is level but quietly is not. This is not motivational. It is a checklist.
The timing window that actually exists
The fiscal calendar of your company determines almost everything about when you can ask. Most US and UK companies finalise their compensation budget six to ten weeks before the start of the next fiscal year. If your fiscal year starts in April, the budget is being shaped in late January through early February. After it is locked, the answer is structurally no, regardless of what your manager thinks of you.
The right time to ask, then, is six to ten weeks before fiscal year start, before the budget closes. The wrong times are after a layoff round, in the two weeks before any major product release, on a Monday morning, or on a Friday afternoon. A Tuesday or Wednesday after 10 a.m. and before 4 p.m. has the highest reported success rate in published HR research.
If you have just delivered a clearly identifiable big win — closed a major client, shipped something visible to the board, taken on responsibility that was not in your job description — the window extends. Ask within four weeks of the win. After that, the win starts to feel like normal performance to everyone except you.
The research, which is the part most people skip
Before you walk in, you need three numbers. Your current salary, the market rate for your role in your geography, and a defensible raise figure. Most women under-research the market rate, which is why most women ask for too little.
The sources worth using in 2026, in order of usefulness:
- Levels.fyi for tech roles — granular, level-specific, and self-reported by employees who have no reason to lie
- Glassdoor for non-tech corporate roles, weighted toward larger companies and major cities
- Robert Half and Hays salary guides for finance, legal, and operations — published annually and used by recruiters as their reference
- The Office for National Statistics ASHE dataset in the UK; the BLS Occupational Employment statistics in the US — the official, slow, conservative versions
- LinkedIn salary insights, taken with caution — biased upward, but useful for relative comparison across companies
Triangulate. If three sources put your role in the £55,000–£72,000 range and you are paid £58,000, the conversation is about closing a market gap, not winning a favour. The framing matters enormously. Walking in with three printed sources changes the dynamic.
What to ask for
The general rule for a routine annual review where your performance has been strong: 8–12 per cent above your current salary. For a market correction where you are clearly under-paid: 15–22 per cent. For a promotion request packaged with the salary conversation: 18–25 per cent. Anything above 25 per cent gets the conversation reframed as a hiring negotiation, which it effectively is, and you will be expected to back it up with a competing offer.
Always ask for a specific number, not a range. Recruiters ask for ranges because they want the bottom of yours. When you ask for a range, your manager hears the bottom of it. Pick a number, justify it, and ask for it.
The script
The opening sentence does most of the work. You want it warm, direct, and unapologetic. Three openers that have worked in published case studies and in the experience of women I trust who have done this several times:
I would like to talk about my compensation. Based on my work over the last year and what I am seeing in the market, I think we need to adjust my salary upward to [number]. Can we work through how to make that happen?
Or, slightly different framing: I have been thinking about my role over the last twelve months and I would like to formally request a salary increase to [number]. I have prepared some context on why I think this is the right number. Is now a good time to walk through it?
Or, for a case where you have an external benchmark: I have done some research on what comparable roles pay across [sector] and I am significantly below the market rate. I would like to adjust my salary to [number], which puts me in the median for the role.
Then stop talking. The single biggest mistake women make in raise conversations is filling the silence after the ask. Let your manager respond. Whatever they say first, listen.
The likely responses, and what to do with them
I need to think about it. Reasonable. Agree on a follow-up date — not later than two weeks out. Then leave the meeting. Do not start negotiating with yourself in their silence.
The budget is tight this year. Sometimes true, often a deflection. Ask what would need to be true for the budget to flex. The answer reveals whether the conversation is over or just starting.
You are doing well, but you are not quite at that level yet. Ask specifically what gap they see. Get it in writing if you can. Either the gap is real and you have a development plan, or the gap is invented and you have surfaced it. Either way, you are better off.
How about [smaller number]? Almost always the opening offer. Counter once, modestly, toward your original number. Negotiating twice is fine; three times turns combative. Most successful negotiations land between the second counter and a small structural concession — a one-off bonus, equity, an earlier review date.
What women specifically should not do
Do not apologise for asking. Sorry to bring this up, but… is the most expensive opening sentence in salary negotiation. The research on this is brutally clear — apologising signals doubt and the doubt gets priced in.
Do not justify the number with personal circumstances. Rent went up, your partner lost their job, your kids are getting expensive — none of it belongs in this conversation. The number is justified by the market and your performance. Personal circumstances make the manager uncomfortable and do not improve your odds.
Do not threaten to leave unless you have an offer in writing and are genuinely willing to use it. Walking the bluff back is humiliating, and managers remember it for years.
If the answer is no and the conversation reveals no real path to yes, start interviewing. Not as revenge — as evidence-gathering. The single fastest path to a meaningful pay rise across all the data is changing jobs, and the average increase from switching is 14–18 per cent, compared with 3–5 per cent from staying. The number is uncomfortable. It is also true, and the women who internalise it earn meaningfully more across their careers.