Employment prospects for women in Scotland have worsened, research finds

Scotland is the only nation or region in the UK where female employment prospects have worsened, according to new research.

After two years at the top of the Women in Work Index, Scotland has fallen to fourth due to fewer females being in employment and improvements in other parts of the UK.

The rankings of the UK nations and regions are compiled by PwC and measure indicators of female economic empowerment.

The latest figures from 2018 show declines in four of the five measurements in Scotland – female unemployment; labour force participation; full-time employment rates, and the gap between the male and female labour force.

A narrowing of the gender pay gap was the only area in which Scotland improved, with the difference in pay falling from 16% in 2017 to 15% in 2018.

Scotland’s overall employment prospects fell by 2% overall, according to PwC’s indicators, and was overtaken by Northern Ireland and Wales, as well as the south-west of England, which took the top spot.

The south-east of England rounded off the top five.

Of the 12 nations and regions measured, Scotland was the only part of the UK to show an overall fall.

Female unemployment in Scotland rose from 3.6% to 4% in 2018, taking the total number up to 52,000 women, according to official figures.

Scottish Government figures for the same period show part-time employment accounts for 42.5% of all women’s employment compared, with 13.1% for men.

Self-employment among women also fell, dropping 2.5 percentage points to 32% between 2016 and 2018.

The labour force participation level in Scotland dipped marginally between 2017 and 2018, from 73.5% to 73.3% – enough for Scotland to fall from fourth to fifth in this measurement.

In addition, the gap in male and female labour force participation rates increased from 8.1% to 8.5%.

Commenting on the figures, PwC’s regional leader in Scotland Claire Reid said: “While it’s disappointing to see Scotland lose top spot in this year’s Women in Work Index, we must remember that we have set the standard in gender equality in the workplace and we are now seeing other parts of the UK respond to that.

“It is hugely encouraging to see Scotland’s gender pay gap improve, moving us up to third place in this important indicator.

“Overall, what this year’s index shows us is that the work cannot stop and in fact must gather pace.

“Although there are a number of factors that have led to the reduction of Scotland’s Index score, what is clear is that organisations need to continue to work on building inclusive cultures which provide women with the same opportunities as men.”

Ms Reid also recommended greater support for flexible working for both men and women to reduce the imbalance of caring responsibilities placed on females, along with childcare and social care options to help women return to work.

The international comparison, which looks at female economic empowerment across 33 OECD countries, shows the UK’s position on the index remained unchanged at 16th, although improvements are being outpaced by many other nations.

The top three performing countries remain the same as last year, with Iceland and Sweden retaining the top two positions on the index for the fifth year in a row, with Slovenia in third.

Belgium and Poland recorded the greatest increase in absolute performance, due to strong improvements across nearly all indicators, with Poland seeing the largest decrease in the gender pay gap across the OECD.