The Midlands is showing small signs of improvement in PwC’s Women in Work Index, an annual report that assesses progress made towards achieving gender equality at work. West Midlands climbed two places in the rankings to 10th place, while East Midlands fell from 11th to 12th place.
The report shows that the female full-time employment rate for West Midlands increased substantially by 4.5%, from 56.9% to 61.3%, while East Midlands saw a small 0.4% increase to 57.77%.
Both regions continue to have a gender pay gap higher than the national UK average of 14%; East Midlands saw an improvement in the gender pay gap from 17.1% to 15.9%, while West Midlands saw no change at 15%.
There was a small increase in female labour force participation in the West Midlands, shifting from 73.6% to 74.2%, while the East Midlands saw a decrease of 1.3%, to 72.1%.
Overall, the report showed that the East Midlands was the worst performing region with its index score decreasing by 6.3 points from 35.9 to 29.6 between 2022 and 2023. Notably, the region has the worst participation rate gap, of 12.7%, a decline of 4.5 percentage points from 8.2% in 2022.
Alex Hudson, PwC UK Market Senior Partner East Midlands, said: “The latest Women in Work Index shows that there is much more to be done to support women in the Midlands with better access to equal opportunities at work.
“It’s positive to see an overall increase in the female full-time employment rate, however action needs to be taken to increase the female participation rate, as we know this is essential for growth in our economy.
“To enhance productivity and drive GDP growth in our region, we must also look to reduce the gender pay gap as it still lags the UK average – the only way to do this is by working closely with business leaders and policy makers to address this.
“We know that women are underrepresented in industrial and manufacturing industries, and with the rise of AI and emerging technologies in the workplace, it’s essential that women are represented and have the right skills – this will play an important part in improving our ranking.”
