South West drops four places in PwC’s Women in Work Index
The South West of England has dropped from second to sixth place in PwC’s annual Women in Work Index, which evaluates advancements toward gender equality in the workplace.
As in last year’s edition, the South West reports the lowest female full-time employment rate in the UK, at 53.8%, although this marks a slight improvement from last year’s 53.4%. The region scores well for the total female labour force participation rate, however, with 76.9% of women active in the labour force, the second highest in the UK.
Performance against other key metrics has worsened: the gender pay gap has widened by 1.5 percentage points to 15.7%, and the female participation rate has declined by 0.6 percentage points to 76.9%.
First launched in 2011, the Index is a comprehensive measure based on a weighted average of five crucial indicators that capture women’s labour market outcomes: female participation rates, participation rate gap, female unemployment rate, female full-time employment rate, and gender pay gap.
Ben Pykett, market senior partner for PwC in Bristol, said: “It’s disappointing to see that, after a period as one of the highest performing regions in our annual Women in Work Index, the South West has slipped back this year.
“As in previous years, the region has one of the highest rates of female participation in the labour force, but the lowest female full-time employment rate. This suggests that, to a greater degree than elsewhere in the UK, it is more difficult for women to work full-time while balancing what essentially amount to significant other unpaid commitments.
“Removing the structural barriers that prevent women from working full-time would make a real difference to the productivity and output of the South West.”
The UK picture
The UK has dropped to its lowest ranking among the 33 OECD countries in over a decade, despite an overall improved score year-on-year, according to PwC’s latest annual Women in Work Index. The report, which assesses progress made towards achieving gender equality at work, found the UK’s improvement on its overall score, from 70.06 to 70.72 year on year, was outpaced by that of other countries.
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