South West falls to second place in Women in Work Index

Having been ranked as the best region in the UK for women in the workplace for three consecutive years, the South West has dropped to second place in PwC’s Women in Work Index.

Northern Ireland moves into first place, thanks to the lowest female unemployment rate and gender pay gap in the UK.

The South West continues to have the lowest gap between male and female labour force participation rates (5.5%) of any region in the UK, and ranks second for the overall participation rate (77%) and unemployment rate (3.2%) for women.

However, the region now has the lowest percentage of women in full-time employment at 59%, and one of the largest gender pay gaps in the UK at 16%.

Sue Morling, partner at PwC in Bristol, said: “It’s disappointing to see the South West lose its place at the top of the UK rankings in the Women in Work Index, but it’s worth noting that the drop is slight – and that the region was still ranked second in the UK, which was itself the best-performing G7 nation.

“But the playing field still isn’t level; exacerbated by the cost of living crisis, childcare costs now represent almost a third of the income of a family on the average UK wage, and that continues to price women out of returning to work.”