Research

Women in the Workforce: UK (Quick Take)

Jul 09, 2020

POPULATION

The UK’s Population Is Growing Older…1

Over one-sixth (18.5%) of the UK’s population is aged 65 years or older in 2020.2

  • By 2050, it is predicted that a quarter of the population will be 65 years of age or older.3

The number of workers at the age qualifying for the UK’s State Pension is expected to rise by 3.6 million from mid-2018 to mid-2043, an increase of 30%.4

…and the Population Is More Multicultural Due to Migration

Between 2004 and 2019, the UK’s foreign-born population almost doubled.5

Since 1998, net migration has been the leading cause of the UK’s population growth.6

  • In 2018 (for which the most recent data available), migrants in the workforce were more likely than their UK-born counterparts to be overqualified for their jobs, meaning that highly educated migrant workers were concentrated in low- and medium-skilled jobs.7
  • Women made up a small majority (52%) of the UK’s migrant population in 2018.8

EDUCATION

More Women Than Men Are Pursuing Higher Education in the UK

In 2018-2019, over half (57.1%) of students enrolled in higher education were women.9

In the same year, women were over half of all enrolled students and graduates at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

  • At the undergraduate level, women were 56.7% of all enrolled students10 and 57.6% of graduates.11
  • At the postgraduate level, women were 58.5% of all enrolled students12 and 59.6% of graduates.13

In 2018–2019, women were underrepresented in several subject areas of higher education, including:14

  • Computer Science = 18.4%
  • Engineering and Technology = 19.1%
  • Mathematical Sciences = 37.2%
  • Architecture, Building, and Planning= 38.5%
  • Physical Sciences = 43.3%
  • Business and Administrative Studies = 49.3%

LABOR FORCE

Women’s Representation in the Labor Force Is Steadily Increasing.15

More women are working than before. As of June 2020, more than two-thirds (72.7%) of women aged 16–64 are employed,16 a percentage that has risen from 52.8% in the first quarter (January-March) of 1971, when the Office for National Statistics began recording this data.17

  • By comparison, 80.1% of men aged 16–64 are employed.18

The increase in the number of working women is due in part to changes made to the State Pension age for women, resulting in fewer women retiring between the ages of 60 and 65 years.19

However, Women Face Significant Economic and Health Risks Due to Covid-1920

In the UK, women were 5 percentage points more likely to have lost their jobs due to Covid-19 than men.21

  • Sixty percent of essential workers are women.22
  • Women comprise 77% of the labor force at high risk of contracting Covid-19.23

PAY GAP

The Gender Wage Gap Is Narrowing, But Women Employed Full-Time Are Still Paid Less Than Men24

The gender pay gap for full- and part-time workers combined in the UK fell to 17.3% in 2019—meaning that women currently make approximately 82.7% of men’s median hourly wages.25

  • Among full-time workers, the gender pay gap remains at 8.9%. It has decreased only 0.6 percentage points since 2012.26
  • In skilled trades occupations, the gender pay gap is even wider (22.4%).27

In 2017, the UK passed legislation requiring all employers with more than 250 employees to report their pay data.28

  • In 2020, only half of 10,000 employers impacted by the law provided data after the UK government suspended the requirement due to the Covid-19 outbreak. The average gender gap among participating companies was 12.9%.29

LEADERSHIP

FTSE 250 Companies Are Appointing More Women to Senior Leadership Roles30    

In 2018-2019, women represented 18.6% of executive committee members, 29.5% of direct reports, and 27.9% of both roles combined in the FTSE 250.31

  • Among functional roles, women are the majority among Human Resources directors (63.3%) but a small proportion of finance directors (15.6%) and chief information officers (11.7%).32
  • Only 8 women (3.2%) held CEO roles in the FTSE 250 as of October 2019.33
On Average, One Out of Three FTSE 250 Companies Added Women to Their Boards in 2018-201934

As of October 2019, the percentage of women on FTSE 250 boards increased to 29.6%, with 582 women directors.35

  • Women represented over a third (35.0%) of non-executive directors, yet only 10.3% of executive directors.36
Women’s Representation Has Reached an All-Time High in the UK’s House of Commons37

Women hold 220 of 650 seats (33.8%) in the House of Commons,38 and just 213 of 775 seats (27.5%) in the House of Lords.39

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Catalyst, Quick Take: Women in the Workforce – Europe.

Catalyst, Quick Take: Women in the Workforce – Global.

Cranfield School of Management, “Gender, Leadership and Inclusion Centre.”

Cranfield University, “Female FTSE Index.”

Alisha Haridasani Gupta, “With Brexit Looming, Experts Worry Women May Be Hit Hardest,” The New York Times, January 17, 2020.

Spencer Stuart, 2019 UK Spencer Stuart Board Index (2019).

 

How to cite this product: Catalyst, Quick Take: Women in the Workforce – UK (July 9, 2020).

  1. Office for National Statistics, Overview of the UK Population: August 2019 (August 23, 2019).
  2. CIA, “United Kingdom, People and Society,” The World Factbook (2020).
  3. Office for National Statistics, Overview of the UK Population: August 2019 (August 23, 2019).
  4. Office for National Statistics, “Figure 4: The Number of People of Pensionable Age Is Projected to Grow the Most,” National Population Projections: 2018-Based Statistical Bulletin (October 21, 2019).
  5. Office for National Statistics, Population of the UK By Country of Birth and Nationality: 2019 (May 21, 2020).
  6. Office for National Statistics, Overview of the UK Population: August 2019 (August 23, 2019).
  7. Mariña Fernández-Reino and Cinzia Rienzo, Migrants in the UK Labour Market: An Overview (The Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, July 15, 2019).
  8. Carlos Vargas-Silva and Cinzia Rienzo, Migrants in the UK: An Overview (The Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, October 4, 2019).
  9. Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), Higher Education Student Statistics: UK, 2018/19 – Student Numbers and Characteristics (January 29, 2020).
  10. Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), Higher Education Student Statistics: UK, 2018/19 – Student Numbers and Characteristics (January 29, 2020).
  11. Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), Higher Education Student Statistics: UK, 2018/19 – Qualifications Achieved (January 29, 2020).
  12. Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), Higher Education Student Statistics: UK, 2018/19 – Student Numbers and Characteristics (January 29, 2020).
  13. Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), Higher Education Student Statistics: UK, 2018/19 – Qualifications Achieved (January 29, 2020).
  14. Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), Higher Education Student Statistics: UK, 2018/19 – Subjects Studied (January 28, 2020).
  15. Office for National Statistics, Labour Market Overview, UK: June 2020 (June 16, 2020).
  16. Office for National Statistics, Labour Market Overview, UK: June 2020 (June 16, 2020).
  17. Office for National Statistics, Female Employment Rate (Aged 16 to 64, Seasonally Adjusted) (June 16, 2020).
  18. Office for National Statistics, Labour Market Overview, UK: June 2020 (June 16, 2020).
  19. Office for National Statistics, Employment in the UK: June 2020 (June 16, 2020).
  20. Fawcett Society, Exiting Lockdown: The Impact on Women (May 2020).
  21. Fawcett Society, Exiting Lockdown: The Impact on Women (May 2020).
  22. Fawcett Society, Exiting Lockdown: The Impact on Women (May 2020).
  23. Fawcett Society, Exiting Lockdown: The Impact on Women (May 2020).
  24. Office for National Statistics, Gender Pay Gap in the UK: 2019 (October 29, 2019).
  25. Office for National Statistics, Gender Pay Gap in the UK: 2019 (October 29, 2019).
  26. Office for National Statistics, Gender Pay Gap in the UK: 2019 (October 29, 2019).
  27. Office for National Statistics, Gender Pay Gap in the UK: 2019 (October 29, 2019).
  28. Aleksandra Wisniewska, Billy Ehrenberg-Shannon, Cale Tilford and Caroline Nevitt, “Gender Pay Gap: Women Still Short-Changed in the UK,” Financial Times, April 23, 2019.
  29. Aleksandra Wisniewska and Daniel Thomas, “Reporting of UK Companies’ Gender Pay Gaps Tumbles in Pandemic,” Financial Times, May 28, 2020.
  30. The Hampton-Alexander Review, The Hampton-Alexander Review: FTSE Women Leaders (November 2019): p. 14.
  31. The Hampton-Alexander Review, The Hampton-Alexander Review: FTSE Women Leaders (November 2019): p. 15.
  32. The Hampton-Alexander Review, The Hampton-Alexander Review: FTSE Women Leaders (November 2019): p. 49.
  33. The Hampton-Alexander Review, The Hampton-Alexander Review: FTSE Women Leaders (November 2019): p. 48.
  34. The Hampton-Alexander Review, The Hampton-Alexander Review: FTSE Women Leaders (November 2019): p. 30.
  35. The Hampton-Alexander Review, The Hampton-Alexander Review: FTSE Women Leaders (November 2019): p. 48.
  36. The Hampton-Alexander Review, The Hampton-Alexander Review: FTSE Women Leaders (November 2019): p. 48.
  37. Elise Uberoi, Chris Watson, and Esme Kirk-Wade, Briefing Paper: Women in Parliament and Government (House of Commons Library, February 25, 2020).
  38. UK Parliament, “MPs and Lords: Find MPs.”
  39. UK Parliament, “MPs and Lords: Find Members of the House of Lords.”