UK and gender equality – no progress in the last ten years

In the light of the unpleasant publicity around Harvey Weinstein, it appears that the UK’s gender equality at work has barely changed in 10 years, a recent report has found; sparking warnings that women could be waiting decades to see a real difference.

The Gender Equality Index 2017, which was published by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) earlier this week, also revealed that gender equality at work across the EU as a whole had improved little between 2005 and 2015. The report measured gender equality at work using several factors, including the proportion of women in full-time employment, the availability of flexible-working arrangements and career prospects.

It was reported that discrimination, high childcare costs and gender stereotypes shut many women out of the workplace.

Meanwhile, the women and equalities minister told parliament yesterday that more could be done to improve the UK’s gender pay gap. Speaking in the House of Commons, Justine Greening said: “The gender pay gap is the lowest it has ever been, but we can do better. We have introduced mandatory gender pay gap reporting for the first time and large employers now have six months left to report their gender pay gaps.”