Widening pay gap pushes UK out of top 20 for equality
Gender equality in workplaces across the globe is unlikely to be realised until 2095, a report from the World Economic Forum (WEF) said.
The ninth annual study which measures female and male equitable life chances in terms of the employment, health, education and political empowerment, revealed that the gender gap for economic participation and opportunity now stands at 60 per cent worldwide, having closed from 56 per cent in 2006.
The WEF said that based on this trajectory, it will take 81 years for the world to close the gap completely.
Of the 142 countries measured, not one country has closed its overall gender gap, the Global Gender Gap Report said, but Nordic nations including Finland, Norway and Sweden, continue to lead the way in gender-equality.
Iceland was ranked the most “equal” country for the sixth time, while Yemen was the least equal country ahead of Pakistan and Chad.
The report found that overall gains for certain countries were offset by reversals in a small number of countries. For example Nicaragua climbed four places to rank sixth with strong performance in health, education and political gaps; Rwanda entered the index for the first time in seventh place due to high economic and political participation, and the United States climbed three places to 20 after narrowing its wage gap and improving the number of women in parliamentary positions.
For the first time in the report’s history, the UK has dropped out of the top 20 to 26th place after average wages for women in the workplace decreased by more than £2,000 in a year.
In 2013, the average female in the UK was earning £18,000 compared to £15,400 in 2014. Male earnings remained consistent at an average of £24,800 per annum.
However, there was a small increase in women attaining senior posts, up from 34 per cent to 35 per cent, and the UK now has the highest proportion of young women in further education, with 72 per cent enrolling compared to 53 per cent of men.
“It’s hugely disappointing to see that the gap between men and women in the workplace has widened again,” said Kathryn Nawrockyi, Opportunity Now director at Business in the Community.
“We know that women make up the vast majority of workers in the ‘five Cs’ – caring, clerical, cashiering, catering and cleaning – and that these jobs are often low-paid. Research from the Fawcett Society also shows that almost two-thirds of workers earning less than the living wage are women, and that a quarter of all working women earn less than this amount. This situation risks leaving generations of women trapped in a cycle of in-work poverty,” she said.
While the gender gap was narrowest in terms of health and survival, with 35 countries having closed the gap entirely, the gap in areas of employment and wages, in particular, remains stubbornly wide across the world.
“Achieving gender equality is obviously necessary for economic reasons. Only those economies who have full access to all their talent will remain competitive and will prosper,” said Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the WEF.