IES Updates Review of Women’s Position in Britain
Jane Aston  Women are gradually getting a stronger foothold in the labour market, according to the Institute’s latest report on women’s position in Britain produced for the Women and Equality Unit (WEU).
Although there are set to be more women than men of working age by 2018 and male activity rates are falling, on current trends there are likely to still be more men than women actively engaged in the labour market.
In November 2002 the Women and Equality Unit (WEU) published Key Indicators of Women’s Position in Britain (Key Indicators, 20021). The report was prepared by IES and provided a set of indicators across many aspects of women’s lives, and established a benchmark against which women’s progress could be measured over time. In 2004, IES produced an update to the original report using the most recently available data, and published by the WEU. The report covers the a wide range of areas including population and demographics, employment and economic activity, education and training, financial resources, health, crime and transport.
The number of women of working age is predicted to increase from 18 million in 2010 to nearly 20 million in 2020 (see figure). This is the decade during which the extension to the state retirement age for women from 60 to 65 years will be phased in. The previous report (Key Indicators 2002]) showed that men would make up the majority of the working age population until 2024. However, the most recent data show that the number of women is projected to overtake the number of men of working age in 2018. The overall numbers of females and males of working age are set to decline from 2021.
Some of the other interesting facts reported include:
- the long-term trend towards increasing participation by women in the labour market. During the 1990s women’s participation rates have been rather stable, increasing by only two percentage points between 1992 and 2004. By contrast, the economic activity rate amongst men has declined slightly during the 1990s to 83 per cent by 2004. As a result, the gap in economic activity rates between women and men has fallen from 16 to 10 percentage points over the period 1992-2004.
- the higher qualifications among younger women compared with men, although older women are still less qualified than older men. Over one-third of women aged 55 to 64, and around a quarter of men in this age group, have no qualifications. The greater equality between younger women and men is likely to filter through over time to reduce disparities across all ages.
- women continue to earn less per hour than average than men. The differences in the earnings of women and men are most evident amongst managers and senior officials, where the earnings ratio is 73 per cent. The smallest differences are seen in the professional occupations, where the comparative earnings ratio is 91 per cent.
For further information, or for a copy of the report, please contact info-womenandequalityunit@dti.gsi.gov.uk. The WEU plans a full revision of the Key Indicators report in 2006.
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