The South East climbs to sixth place in PwC’s Women in Work Index

• The South East region climbed one place in the PwC's Women in Work Index, moving from seventh to sixth 

• The region saw an improvement across all five Index indicators except female full-time employment rate, which declined by 5.29%

• The UK slips from 13th to 17th in the Index ranking - the steepest annual decline amongst OECD countries - with Luxembourg, Iceland and Slovenia the best performing

• Scotland is the UK’s top performing region, jumping from third to first place

The South East rose from seventh place to sixth among the UK’s nations and regions in PwC’s Women in Work Index, which assesses progress made towards achieving gender equality at work. The OECD Index assesses 33 OECD countries while the regional Index assesses the UK’s regions and nations. 

The South East is one of nine nations and regions that recorded an improvement in their overall Index score, rising by 2.6 points,from 39 in 2021 to 41.6 in 2022. 

The Index evaluates five indicators: female participation rates, participation rate gap, female unemployment rate, female full-time employment rate, and gender pay gap. The South East saw an improvement across all indicators, with the exception of the female full-time employment rate, which declined by 5.29% to 57.71% in 2022. 

Despite the overall improvement in the gender pay gap in the region by 1.3% from 18.4% in 2021 to 17.1% in 2022, the South East still ranked poorly in terms of inequality in earnings based on gender, on par with the East Midlands. The South East has consistently had one of the highest gender pay gaps for the past three years.

The most positive improvement within the South East was the decline in the female unemployment rate, which decreased from 3.4% in 2021 to 2.7% in 2022.

The report also revealed an average increase of 0.6 points in the regional Index score across UK regions compared to 2021. Additionally, the gap between the worst-performing region and the best-performing nation narrowed in 2022, indicating that the regions with lower performance are making progress. This narrowing gap also suggests reduced geographical inequalities in employment outcomes for women across the UK.

Sandeep Dhillon, Market Senior Partner at PwC Watford, said: 

"I am pleased to see the South East region making progress in improving its indicators and advancing its overall position in the Women in Work Index. Despite the weight given to the gender pay gap and female participation rate in the Index, the region still managed to climb one point in this year's ranking.

“Addressing the persistent challenge of the gender pay gap should remain a top priority for our region. It's crucial that policymakers and businesses collaborate closely to implement effective strategies that promote fairness and equality in the workplace. Our collective focus must centre on fostering an environment where talent thrives, ensuring opportunities are accessible to all. By prioritising initiatives that bolster employment, support skill development, and advance education in critical areas, we can drive meaningful and lasting change that benefits individuals and society as a whole.”

The ‘gender pay penalty’ in the UK

The 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. Indeed, while a woman entering the workforce faces a pay penalty of around 5.2% on average, this widens to nearly 13% as her career unfolds. The report highlights the ‘motherhood penalty’, with women taking on an unequal share of childcare responsibilities, as a key driver. This is compounded by men often having more time available to perform so-called ‘greedy jobs’, which demand unpredictable and longer hours and tend to be more highly paid. In addition, women between 46 and 65 are also likely to be impacted by health conditions and the menopause, which may require them to take more time off work, potentially affecting their career progression and compensation. 

Strikingly, married women and those in higher income brackets also face a hit to their earnings when compared with men with similar personal and professional backgrounds - for example, people living in the same area and working in the same industry.

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.”

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. Moreover, it could also encourage more women to join or rejoin the workforce - a 5% increase in the total number of women in employment could boost UK GDP by up to £125bn every year.

Read the full Women in Work Index here

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.
2. The pay penalty analysis explores whether gender disparities in pay in the UK remain once accounting for other personal and work-related characteristics that impact pay. When we say ‘pay penalty’ we mean the disparity in pay once differences in a range of pay-determining factors other than gender have been accounted for. It is calculated by taking national hourly earnings data from the Annual Population Survey 2022 and statistically controlling for nine individual and occupational characteristics that influence pay. 
3. The economic gains figures are based on employment, earnings and GDP data as of 2022 and are in nominal terms.