Female empowerment


The UK ranks 13th for female economic empowerment out of 33 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), according to research by professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).


The latest Women in work index analysed female economic empowerment across 33 of the 36 member countries of the OECD, an intergovernmental economic organisation. It did this by exploring equality in the workplace, as well as comparing five key indicators: the gap between female and male earnings, the female labour force participation rate, the gap between female and male labour force participation rates, the female unemployment rate and the share of female employees in full-time work.


The report, now in its seventh year, ranks Iceland in first place for female economic empowerment, followed by Sweden in second spot and New Zealand in third. PwC attributes the UK’s placement to its persistent gender pay gap. Nevertheless, the country has seen some success, rising from 17th place in 2000 to 14th last year and 13th this year.


And the UK compares favourably to other G7 countries; Canada ranks nearby in 11th, while Germany (18th), France (22nd), the US (23rd), Japan (27th) and Italy (29th) all rank below the UK.


Scotland tops the UK’s regional rankings, followed by the South West, Wales, Northern Ireland and the South East. London is 9th out of 12 UK regions.


www.employeebenefits.co.uk/uk-13-female-economic-empowerment