The Midlands shows small signs of improvement in PwC’s Women in Work Index

• West Midlands climbs up two places in the Women in Work index rankings to 10th place, while East Midlands falls from 11th place to 12th place. 

• The female full-time employment rate increased for both the West and East Midlands, with an increase of 4.5% and 0.4% respectively.   

• Female participation rate in the West Midlands improved from 73.6% to 74.2%, however the East Midlands saw a 1.3% decrease.   

• The UK slips from 17th to 18th in the Index ranking, down from 10th in 2020.   

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 of which are below the UK average of 58.6%. 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.”  

Regional inequalities in the UK  

The Index’s OECD analysis assesses the performance of 33 OECD countries, including the UK overall, while its UK regional analysis assesses the performance of the UK’s 12 nations and regions. 

Half of the UK regions (six out of 12) recorded improvements in their Index score year-on-year. Scotland placed first for the second year running, improving its female participation rate, and its wage gap narrowed significantly from 11.8% in 2022 to 8.3% in 2023. The North East was the most improved, moving up six places to fourth, due to much better female participation, lower unemployment, and wage gap improvements. Five regions experienced a deterioration, most notably in the East and East Midlands. 

Overall, the gap between the worst and best performing regions has widened, by approximately seven points year-on-year. The contributing factors for this have been the impact of slow regional growth in certain parts of the UK, and varying degrees of both implementation of the ‘Levelling Up’ agenda and proactive efforts of devolved governments in supporting female employment.   

The UK's overall performance in the Women in Work Index has varied since 2011, averaging 16th place. It peaked at 10th in 2020, in large part due to the COVID-19 furlough scheme, but fell to 18th by 2023 as other countries improved their workforce participation rates. This is the lowest the UK has ranked in the Index in over a decade, when it ranked 19th in 2012. For the first time since 2019, the UK is no longer ranked number one among the G7 economies and is now second behind Canada.    

Gender equality boosts GDP  

This year, the Women in Work Index focused on the positive link between workplace gender equality and a country’s economic performance. Specific focus was given to analysing the impact of the female participation rate on increased productivity, and the resulting boost to productivity of OECD countries. 

In 2023, the UK had a female labour force participation rate of 74.8%, compared to 72.7% and 71.7% in the OECD and G7, respectively. The G7 had the weakest performance, with its 2023 participation figure now only just aligning with that of the UK’s in 2014.  

The findings show that increased female participation significantly contributed to productivity and GDP growth across OECD countries from 2011 to 2023, leading to an annual increase of USD $0.19 in GDP per hour worked for the average OECD country. This translated into an average GDP boost of USD $4.5bn per OECD country a year. If progress toward full gender equality in the workplace continues at the same pace for the next five years, total productivity gains by 2030 could amount to $54.5bn (£43.5bn) in UK GDP, $31.6bn for the average OECD country and $105.5bn for the average G7. 

Phillippa O’Connor, Chief People Officer at PwC UK, said:  

"The positive link between gender equality in the workplace and economic growth shows that investing in gender equality isn't just the right thing to do, it's the smart thing to do. The benefits of a larger and more diverse workforce are translating directly into GDP gains, as well as enriching economic diversity, reducing income inequality, and providing a stronger overall skills base.  

“As our research shows, increasing the workplace participation rates of women has the potential to significantly boost the UK economy and help solve the productivity puzzle – providing a valuable pathway to achieving sustainable growth.”   

ENDS 

Notes to Editors:  

1. The five indicators that make up the Women in Work Index are: the gender pay gap, the female labour force participation rate, the gap between male and female labour force participation rates, the female unemployment rate, and the female full-time employment rate.  

1. We refer to results using 2023 data, due to a lag in availability of annual data across all indicators and countries in the Index. This is the latest annual data available at the time of publication.  

1. OECD data is used for the main index and ONS data for the UK regional elements of the index. As the two datasets are fundamentally different, comparisons should not be drawn between OECD and regional index scores.  

1. All monetary values given are in 2023 prices. 

1. The full Women In Work Index can be found here: Women in Work 2025 - PwC UK