What is gender inequality?
Women experience inequality in several ways:
- income
- employment
- education
- housing
- health
- social mobility
How does gender affect income?
On average, women earn less than men in equivalent employment. According to the Office for National Statistics, the UK pay gap between men and women's pay for full-time workers was 7.7% in April 2023. This is down compared with 9.5% in 2015, but up from 7.6% in 2022.
The gender pay gap for under 40s is close to zero but for men and women aged 40 years and over, the pay gap widens with age. The pay gap is also most noticeable among higher-paid women compared to higher-paid men. (Source: Office for National Statistics) In part time work in the UK, women earn 3.3% more than men. (Source: UK Parliament)
Within the Equality Act 2010, the Labour Government planned to force employers to publish full pay details of all employees. However, the Conservative government, which was elected in the same year, changed these plans to allow companies to publish on a voluntary basis. After 2017, this decision was reversed with pay disclosure became law for companies with more than 250 employees.
Women generally are also likely to have lower pensions and to have alternative sources of income such as dividends from stocks and shares.
Median weekly pay for full-time female employees in April 2023 was £629 (up 7% from £588 in 2022), compared to men £725 (up 6.1% from £683 in 2022).
Learn more about how gender and other factors impacts income and wealth inequality.
How does gender affect employment?
Women are disproportionately represented in lower paid employment.
Women are concentrated in the 5Cs – caring, cashiering, catering, cleaning and clerical – employment areas where rates of pay are historically lower.
In the UK in 2022, 9.74m women were working full time and 5.92m were working part time. The sectors with most women were employed included health and social work (21% of all jobs held by women), wholesale and retail (13%) and education (12%). In education 70% of the jobs are held by women and in health and social work that figure is 77%.
Women are also less likely to be employed (2022 female employment rate was 72.3% compared to male employment rate of 79%), economically active, offered promotion or to access training courses when compared to men. In the UK, 38% of women were working part-time compared to 14% of men. (Source: House of Commons Library)
How does gender affect education?
Females out-perform males at every level in education, from primary, through secondary and into further and higher education, although the gap narrows the older people become.
How does gender affect housing?
Women are more likely to live in smaller properties of poorer quality. They are also more likely to be renting the property they live in.
How does gender affect health?
Women have greater life expectancy but higher rates of ill health. Average life expectancy in Scotland was 76.5 years for males and 80.7 years for females in 2020-2022. In the Scottish Health Survey of 2021, 77% of men described their general health as ‘good’ or ‘very good’ compared to just 73% of women.
Learn more about how gender and other factors impacts health inequality.
How does gender affect social mobility?
Social mobility is a term used to describe the way people can improve their position in society. A good education or having any one of a range of skills, can see people improve their situation. The UK has low levels of social mobility. Evidence suggests women from deprived backgrounds and from ethnic minority groups, are less likely to be socially mobile.
