The North has improved its position on a table measuring best places for women to work, but remains well below the national average.
The North West was ranked seventh in the Women in Work Index, a report by accountancy PwC that assesses progress made towards achieving gender equality at work across 33 OECD countries, as well as across the UK’s 12 regions and nations. Yorkshire and Humber was ranked ninth and the North Eat was 10th.
The report shows that the gender pay gap has decreased year-on-year in the North West and in Yorkshire and Humber, but rose slightly in the North West. All three Northern regions had low figures for proportion of women of working age who either have a job or are seeking work.
Read more:business and political leaders come together for ‘Manifesto for the North’
Nationally, the UK slipped four places to 17th on the OECD Index – the largest annual fall in rankings experienced by any OECD country this year .
Susie Holmes, place and purpose lead for PwC in the North, said: “It’s always been difficult for the North as a region to close the gap with other areas of the UK due to the prominence of typically male dominated industries such as manufacturing and STEM fields, but there are a number of incredible initiatives across the North, like She Leads for Legacy and TechSheCan, that are doing fantastic work in bringing businesses and policy makers together, and highlighting the issues facing gender pay disparity. We’re extremely proud to support important programmes like these, alongside our own gender inclusion networks in the North, to help future proof careers for women.”
PwC’s report finds that, even after accounting for a range of pay-determining factors, the pay disparity between women and men in the UK still persists with women earning almost a tenth less than men on average. This ‘gender pay penalty’ worsens with age, with women between the ages of 46 and 65 experiencing more than twice the gender pay penalty than that of women between 16 and 30 years.
Ian Elliott, chief people officer at PwC UK, said: “Our analysis is a timely reminder that employers have to look at all the factors that contribute to pay gaps. Alongside transparent and robust gender pay gap reporting, it’s also vital that health and wellbeing resources are accessible and the workplace is an empowering place for employees experiencing the menopause and other health conditions. Moreover, it’s crucial that working parents are properly supported – championing flexible and hybrid working, alongside progressive parental leave policies, is key.”
PwC said that addressing the gender pay penalty could unlock significant economic gains for the UK economy. If women no longer faced a gender pay penalty, the total increase in women’s earnings in the UK could be up to £55bn every year, it said.
Original artice – https://business-live.co.uk/all-about/yorkshire-humber
