The Midlands has seen improvements to its female labour force participation rate, but decreases in the overall regional rating, according to this year’s Women in Work Index.
The Index analyses female economic empowerment across 33 OECD countries. Since the Index began in 2010, the Midlands has seen a steady improvement in all five measured indicators.
However, although the West Midlands has increased one place in this year’s Index rising from 12th to 11th place, the East Midlands has dropped from 5th place to 12th in this year’s overall rating.
The Midlands labour force for women is held at 75%, higher than the national average of 74%. Whilst the gender pay gap in the West Midlands has reduced to 16%.
Similarly, the West Midlands has also seen a decrease in its participation rate gap, decreasing from 11% to 9%, on par with the East Midlands. Yet, while the female unemployment rate remained the same at 5% in the West Midlands, it has increased by 1% in the East Midlands from 4% to 5%.
Becky Clayton, Midlands consumer markets & industrial products/manufacturing partner at PwC, said: “The Index highlights the extent to which the pandemic has affected women in work, especially in the Midlands. It is pleasing to see an increase in the female labour force participation and a decrease in the gender pay gap, over the last ten years the Midlands has driven improvement across every indicator.
“Yet, we have to address the very real impact of the pandemic on women in the region to continue to strive for progress, through continuing to invest in addressing inequality to create inclusive workplaces.
“As we look to the future, we must continue to help create equal employment opportunities for women from all social backgrounds. We are pleased to be on the front foot of investment in the region, establishing a presence in the Midlands through our technology degree apprenticeship programme with Birmingham University and our support of the Tech She Can and Tech we Can programmes.
“We are actively investing in local talent from a diverse range of backgrounds aiming to break down barriers to support social mobility and help people forge new career pathways. As the UK government continues to prioritise levelling-up to reduce regional social disparity, governments and businesses must continue to work together to empower women and create opportunities to support women in the workforce.”
The UK moved up seven places on the Index for 2020, from 16th position in 2019 to ninth out of the 33 OECD countries. This puts the UK in the highest position among G7 countries. The average score among the 33 countries fell by half a point.
The UK’s increase in the rankings was driven by a fall in the gender pay gap, jumping down 4% from 2019 to 2020, compared with the previous eight years in which it had only improved 2%. This is likely to be due to the short-term impact on male earnings in the pandemic and related job retention schemes.
However the UK’s Office of National Statistics (ONS) indicates that the pay gap may have already widened again to 14% in 2021. The UK also saw a slight increase in full time employed females to 66% – although this still falls well below the OECD average of 76%.
The 2022 edition of the Women in Work report also examines employment outcomes for women across different Ethnic Minority groups living in the UK, and shows that pre-existing labour market inequalities faced by Ethnic Minority women were exacerbated during the pandemic.
In the UK, between July 2019 and September 2021, the unemployment rate for Ethnic Minority women rose by 2.3 percentage points (pp), compared to 0.2 pp for white women, 0.3pp for white men and 0.6 pp for Ethnic Minority men during the same period. Data shows that Ethnic Minority women are over-represented in insecure, low-paid jobs; and also experienced some of the largest percentage falls in employee numbers in contact-intensive sectors such as retail and hospitality which were heavily impacted by COVID-19 lockdowns and job losses.
This inequality also extends to pay. In the UK, for every £1 earned by a white man, a woman from an Ethnic Minority with the same occupation and qualifications earns 87p, while a white woman earns 89p.
Tara Shrestha Carney, economist at PwC, says: “These pay penalties provide compelling evidence that an individual’s race and gender, and the intersection of these two characteristics, are significant determining factors of pay and professional success. Our analysis factors in important individual and occupational drivers of earnings such as age, occupation, and qualifications. The implication is that we cannot fix employment and pay disparities by addressing skills gaps alone – there is a need to address the systemic and structural gender and racial inequality which exists in the labour market.”
Furthermore, PwC’s analysis looks towards the future composition of work across the OECD, as the energy sector (responsible for 35% of all carbon emissions globally) transitions to net zero. There will be net job creation across OECD economies – with new green jobs concentrated in the utilities, construction and manufacturing sectors. These three sectors are all heavily male dominated – currently employing 31% of the male workforce across the OECD, but just over 11% of the female workforce.
Ian Elliott, chief people officer at PwC UK, says: “It is incredibly disappointing to see the extent to which COVID-19 has started to reverse a decade of progress for women in work globally. While the UK has continued to make progress in many areas, this report shines a light on the extent to which inequalities persist and may even widen further without considered policy responses. It is clear that building a truly inclusive and equal workplace still requires significant focus and support from governments, policy-makers and businesses.
“There is a clear need for investing in and providing upskilling and reskilling opportunities for women of all backgrounds. Creating more flexible working opportunities for both men and women – such as shared parental leave and affordable childcare – can also play a substantial role in reducing the inequalities around unpaid care and domestic work that remain for women.”
