Record numbers of women in work as government delivers on its pledge to support people into jobs
The number of women in employment has hit a record 14.6 million, with nearly 1 million (975,000) more women in work than 5 years ago.
With a record overall employment rate of 73.7% and strong wage growth, the government is delivering on its promise to create a fairer welfare state where work pays and people are rewarded for doing the right thing.
The employment rate for women in the UK is now 69% – the third highest of the G7 countries behind, Germany and Canada, but above the USA, Japan, France and Italy.
Employment Minister Priti Patel, said:
I believe passionately that women should have every opportunity to play a full and active role in the workplace, so am naturally delighted that the number of women in work has hit a record high.
With nearly 1 million more women in work than there were in 2010, fewer people claiming benefits and wages now rising steadily, it’s clear that our effort to transform Britain into a higher wage and lower welfare society is working.
“We’ve made great strides in turning around our economy over the past 5 years; now our job is to build on this through a further rise in employment of 2 million and 3 million more apprenticeships.
Minister for Women and Equalities Caroline Dinenage, said:
I am proud to be a Minister for Women Equalities – leading the charge to ensure women are equally represented in society and business.
We promised to make our economy more inclusive, by removing barriers that stop women from participating in our workforce and that is exactly what we have done.
The facts speak for themselves – we have more women in work than ever before, over 25% of boards are now made up of women and the gender pay gap is the lowest on record.
But that doesn’t mean we stop and pat ourselves on the back. We need to continue to push this work forward. That is why we will be requiring employers with at least 250 employees to publish gender pay gap and bonus information, reviewing how we can get more women into executive positions and ensuring that young women and girls are inspired and have the opportunity to reach their full potential.
More information
Overall, 2 million more people are in work than in 2010, bringing the total to 31.2 million. Over the same period, unemployment has dropped by 760,000, of which nearly 200,000 were women.
Family-friendly policies, such as offering 30 hours of free childcare for 3 and 4 year olds, have been designed to make it easier for people to move into work.
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