SN06838

Research Briefing
By Susannah Irvine,
Harriet Clark,
Matthew Ward,
Women and the UK economy
Brigid Francis-Devine
4 March 2022
Summary
1 Trends in female employment
2 Women’s earnings
3 Women leading businesses
commonslibrary.parliament.uk
Number 6838 Women and the UK economy
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2 Commons Library Research Briefing, 4 March 2022

Contents
Summary 4
Women in employment 4
How much are women paid? 4
How many women are running businesses? 5
1 Trends in female employment 6
1.1 Women in work 6

1.2 Full and part-time work 7
1.3 Employees and the self-employed 8
1.4 Employment by industry 9
1.5 Employment by occupation 11
1.6 Regional differences in women’s employment 13
1.7 Unemployment and economic inactivity 14
1.8 Labour market status by ethnic group 16
1.9 Labour market activity by disability status 17
1.10 International comparisons 19
2 Women’s earnings 21
2.1 Trends in average pay 21

2.2 The gender pay gap 22
2.3 The gender pay gap varies with age 23
2.4 Low pay 23
3 Women leading businesses 25
3.1 Female-led SMEs 25

3.2 Female-led start-ups 25
3.3 Women on boards 28
3.4 Women in business – Further reading 30

Summary
This paper provides statistics and analysis on women’s participation in the

labour market and in business across the UK. It tracks trends by employment
type, industry, occupation, region and country, ethnic group and disability
status, as well as the gender pay gap and women leading businesses.
The data in this paper is from ONS Labour market bulletins which are
released monthly, and the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings and
BEIS small business survey, released annually.
Women in employment
In the UK, 15.52 million women aged 16+ were in employment in October to
December 2021, according to the ONS UK Labour Market bulletin. This is up
153,000 from the year before. The female employment rate was 72.2%, down
from a record high of 72.7% in December 2019-February 2020. The male
employment rate was 78.8%.
9.68 million women were working full-time, while 5.84 million were working
part-time. Most part-time employment was by women (38%), compared to
13% of men.
The most common sectors for women’s employment in the UK are health and
social work (accounting for 21% of all jobs held by women as of September
2021), the wholesale and retail trade (13%) and education (12%). In the health
and social work sector, 78% of jobs are held by women and in education, its
70%.
How much are women paid?
Median weekly pay for female full-time employees was £558 at April 2021,
based on data from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. This
compared to £652 for male full-time employees.
After adjusting for inflation, median pay for women working full-time was
around 2% higher than its level in the financial crash in 2008, while median
pay for men was around 8% lower.
As of April 2020, the gender pay gap in median hourly pay (excluding
overtime) for men and women was:

• 7.9% for full-time employees,

• -2.7% for part-time employees (meaning women tended to be paid
more than men),
• 15.4% for all employees.
The gender pay gap The gender pay gap for all employees is larger than either the full-time or
measures the part-time pay gaps. This is because a much higher share of women than men
are employed part-time and part-time workers tend to earn less per hour
difference between than those working full-time.
hourly earnings of
women and men
How many women are running businesses?
Of the UK’s small and medium-sized enterprises with employees, 16% were
led by women in 2020, according to data from the BEIS, Small business survey
(employers).
Men are more likely than women to be involved in “total early stage
entrepreneurial activity,” which includes owning or running a business less
than 3.5 years old.
In June 2021, 37.7% of directors of FTSE100 companies were women. In the

FTSE250 (the next largest 250 listed companies outside the FTSE100), 34.9%
of directors were women.
1 Related Library briefings

• UK labour market statistics
• The gender pay gap
• Business statistics
• Women in politics and public life
• Women and pensions
• Female Members of Parliament
• House of Lords Library briefing, International Women’s Day: A gender
equal world?

1 Trends in female employment1
1.1 Women in work
15.52 million women in the UK aged 16 and over were in employment in

October to December 2021. The number of women in work was 153,000 more
than the same period a year before but 1.81 million higher than the decade
before.
The female employment rate was 72.2% in October to December 2021. Recent
increases in the rate are partly due to changes in the state pension age for
women. However, the rate has fallen slightly from a record high of 72.7%,
which was seen Dec 2019-Feb 2020.
Chart 1
Employment rates for women and men, 1971-2021

Aged 16-64, seasonally adjusted
100%
Men
80%
60% Women
40%
20%
0%
1971 1976 1981 1986 1991 1996 2001 2006 2011 2016 2021
Source: ONS, Labour Market Bulletin, Table A02 SA, 15 February 2022.
The employment rate for men aged 16-64 was 78.8% in October to December
2021. The gap between the male and female employment rates was 6.6%
points, down from 9.8% a decade ago. The smallest gap (6.0%) was seen
between February and April 2021.
1
Data in this section are from ONS UK Labour Market bulletin unless otherwise stated.

1.2 Full and part-time work
9.68 million women were working full-time in October to December 2021,

while 5.84 million were working part-time.
In the years immediately following the economic downturn in 2008, women’s

full-time employment levels decreased but there was some increase in part-
time employment levels. There has been strong growth in full-time
employment since the end of 2012.
Women are still more likely than men to be working part-time. 38% of women
in employment were working part-time at the end of 2021, although this is
down from around 45% during the 1990s, as female full-time employment has
grown more quickly than part-time employment.
The proportion of men working part-time climbed from around 7% in 1992 to

13% in 2010 and has remained at a similar level since.
Chart 2
Changes in full-time and part-time employment since Q4 2007

Women aged 16+
2.0
Women working full-

1.5
time
1.0
0.5
Women working
part-time
0.0
-0.5
2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020
Source: ONS, Labour Market bulletin, Table EMP01, 15 February 2022
Since the start of the pandemic, the gap between the number of women
working full-time and women working part-time has widened. Since January-
March 2020, the number of women working full-time has increased by
399,000 while the number working part-time has decreased by 597,000.

1.3 Employees and the self-employed
13.99 million women were working as employees and 1.46 million were self-
employed in October to December 2021. 2 The number of women working as
employees is 1.62 million higher than a decade ago, while 228,000 more
women are self-employed.
There was a small fall in the number of women working as employees
immediately following the 2008 economic downturn, but there was an
increase in self-employment. Employee numbers have grown much more
strongly since 2012.
Women are more likely than men to work as employees. 90% of women in
employment are employees, compared to 84% of men.
Around 9% of women are self-employed compared to 16% of men, although
the share of all self-employed workers who are women has increased over the
past decade. Women comprised 35% of all self-employed workers at the end
of 2021 up from 27% in 2007 (before the 2008 financial crash).
Chart 3
Change in self-employment and employee numbers since Q4 2007

Women aged 16+, millions
1.8
1.6
Employees
1.4
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4 Self-employed
0.2
0.0
-0.2
2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020
Source: ONS, Labour Market bulletin, Table EMP01, 15 February 2022
2
Data for November 2021 to January 2022 will be published by the ONS on 15 March 2022

Over the pandemic, the number of employees increased while self

employment fell. In October to December 2021, 77,000 more women were
working as employees than in January-March 2020. As discussed in section
2.2, this was driven by an increase in full-time employment. The number of
self-employed women fell by 250,000 over the same period.
For men, falling employment levels during the pandemic were mostly due to
fewer men being self-employed. The Office for National Statistics has
reported the decrease of self-employed people over the pandemic is partly
due to people describing themselves as employees rather than self-
employed after the furlough scheme was created. 3
More information can be found in the Library briefing, Coronavirus: Impact
on the labour market.
1.4 Employment by industry
In the UK, the sectors with the most women in employment are health and
Women account for social work (accounting for 21% of all jobs held by women as of September
over three quarters 2021), the wholesale and retail trade (13%) and education (12%). 4
of all jobs in the
For men, the most common sectors also included the wholesale and retail
health and social trade (14% of all jobs held by men), followed by manufacturing and
work sector. construction (both 10%).
78% of jobs in the health and social work sector and 70% of jobs in education
are held by women. Sectors where only a small proportion of jobs are held by
women include construction (15%), mining and quarrying (17%) and
transportation and storage (23%).
3
ONS, Painting the full picture: what our statistics tell us about the labour market, 29 January 2021
4
These figures are a count of jobs rather than people, since one person may hold multiple jobs.
Source: ONS Workforce jobs series, via Nomis.

Chart 4
Women's employment by industry, September 2021

Millions
Health and social work

Wholesale and retail
Education
Professional, scientific, technical
Admin and support services
Accommodation & food services
Public administration and defence
Manufacturing
Other service activities
Information and communication
Financial and insurance activities
Arts, entertainment, recreation
Transportation and storage
Construction
Real estate activities
Agriculture, forestry and fishing
Water supply and sewerage
Household employers
Electricity, gas, steam
Mining and quarrying
0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0
Source: ONS, Workforce jobs series via NOMIS

1.5 Employment by occupation
Occupations are classified into nine broad categories (shown in the chart
below). 5
24% of women worked in professional occupations (like engineers, doctors
and nurses, teachers, accountants and lawyers) in 2021, compared to around
23% of men. 44% of women in professional occupations in 2021 were
employed as nurses, teachers, or other educational professionals.
A higher share of men than women were working as managers, directors or
senior officials, with 13% of men in these roles compared to 8% of women.
Men were also more likely than women to be working in ‘skilled trades’; as
process, plant or machine operatives; and in associate professional and
technical occupations. Women were more likely than men to be working in
administrative and secretarial occupations; caring, leisure and other service
occupations; and in sales and customer-service occupations.
Chart 5
Employment by occupation
All people in enployment, October 2020-September 2021
Higher paying
Professional occupations
occupations
Managers, directors, senior officials
Associate professional & technical
Skilled trades
Administrative and secretarial
Process, plant, machine operatives
Caring, leisure and other services
Sales and customer service

Women Lower paying
Elementary occupations Men
occupations
Millions 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 5
Note: Occupations ranked based on median hourly pay (excluding overtime) for employees as of April 2021.
Source: ONS, Employment by status and occupation, via Nomis and Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings via NOMIS
5
ONS, Employment by status and occupation, via Nomis

Across these occupation groups, women are more likely to work part-time
than men. For both men and women, the share of workers who are part-time
is highest in the lowest-paid occupations:
Chart 6
Employment by occupation
October 2020-September 2021
Full-time workers Part-time workers
Professional occupations Higher paying

occupations
Managers, directors, senior officials
Associate professional & technical
Skilled trades
Administrative and secretarial
Process, plant, machine operatives Men Women Men Women
Caring, leisure and other services
Sales and customer service

Lower paying
Elementary occupations
occupations
4 3 2 1 1 2 32 4 1 1 2
Millions
Note: Occupations ranked based on median hourly pay (excluding overtime) for employees at April 2021.
Source: ONS, Employment by status and occupation and Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings via NOMIS.

1.6 Regional differences in women’s employment
Women’s employment rate was highest in the South West (75%) and South
East (74%) of England in the year ending September 2021. It was lowest in
Northern Ireland and the North East of England (both 68%).
Women aged 16-64 are less likely than men to be in employment across all
countries and regions of the UK. The gap between the male and female
employment rate ranges from 5% points in the North East, South West,
Scotland and Northern Ireland, to 8% points in London, the East and
Yorkshire and the Humber.
Chart 7
Employment rates
Millions, people aged 16-64, October 2020-December 2021
Women Men
South West
South East
East
East Midlands
United Kingdom
Scotland
West Midlands
North West
London
Wales
Yorks & Humber
North East
Northern Ireland
50% 60% 70% 80% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Source: ONS, Annual Population Survey via NOMIS
Further information on men and women’s employment and earnings by region

can be found in the Library’s briefing, Labour market statistics: UK regions and
countries.

1.7 Unemployment and economic inactivity
People who are not in work can either be unemployed (looking for and
available for work) or economically inactive (not looking for or available for
work).
635,000 women aged 16 and over were unemployed at October to December
2021, compared to 740,000 men. The unemployment rate for women was
3.9%, less than the unemployment rate of 4.2% for men.
5.13 million women aged 16-64 were economically inactive in October to
December 2021, which is 24.7% of women in this age group. This compared to
3.64 million men aged 16-64 who were inactive (17.7%).
There were large falls in the inactivity rate of women over the 1970s and
1980s before a more gradual decline over the 1990s and 2000s. The rate has
been falling more quickly again since 2010 in part due to increases in the
state pension age for women.
Chart 8
Inactivity rates for women and men, 1971-2021

UK, aged 16-64
50%
45%
40%
35%
30% Women
25%
20%
15%
Men
10%
5%
0%
1971 1975 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Source: ONS, UK Labour Market bulletin, Table A02, 15 February 2022.

As the chart below shows, in October to December 2021, 1.40 million women
were economically inactive because they were looking after their family or
home. 1.12 million women were inactive as they were studying, and 1.24
million were inactive due to being long-term sick.
Chart 9
Main reason why people are economically inactive

Millions, aged 16-64, October-December 2021
1.6
Men Women
1.4
1.4
1.2
1.2
1.0 1.2
1.1 1.1
0.8
0.6 0.7
0.6 0.6
0.4 0.5
0.2
0.3
0.0
Student Looking after Long-term Retired Other
family or sick
home
Source: ONS, Labour Market bulletin, Table INAC01, 15 February 2022.
2 Inactivity for men has increased more than for women

since the start of the coronavirus pandemic
Economic inactivity has increased more among men, with rates increasing
from 16.2% in January-March 2020, to 17.7% in October to December 2021.
There was no change in women’s inactivity rate over the same period (24.6%
to 24.7%). This means that women now make up over 49% of the workforce, a
record high, and up from 47% in 2019.
According to the Resolution Foundation, this is partly because the sectors
demanding more labour have been ‘female-heavy’ sectors like public
administration, IT and communications, and professional and other services.

Meanwhile, ‘male-heavy’ sectors like construction and manufacturing have

had a decrease in the employment. 6
Evidence suggests that women with caring commitments have increased their
economic activity over the pandemic, because of more flexibility and options
to work from home. The Resolution Foundation finds that 10% of mothers
aged 25-44 in a couple said remote working meant they could enter work or
increase their hours since February 2020. 7
1.8 Labour market status by ethnic group
Unemployment
In October to December 2021, women from a minority ethnic group had an
unemployment rate of 8.1%, compared to a rate of 7.3% for men. 8
Women from a White ethnic group had an unemployment rate of 3.3%,
compared to a rate of 3.7% for men.
For the most part, until 2019 unemployment for men and women in minority
ethnic groups fell more rapidly than for people from White ethnic groups,
which meant the gap between White ethnic groups and minority ethnic
groups was shrinking. The pandemic widened the gap again: the chart below
shows a sharp increase in unemployment for men and women from minority
ethnic groups in 2020.
6
Resolution Foundation, Begin again? Assessing the permanent implications of Covid-19 for the UK’s
labour market, 23 November 2021
7
Resolution Foundation, Begin again? Assessing the permanent implications of Covid-19 for the UK’s
labour market, 23 November 2021
8
Here ‘minority ethnic group’ includes Black Africa/Caribbean, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Indian, Chinese,
Mixed, and Other ethnic groups. Quarterly survey samples are too small for a breakdown by specific
ethnic group to be reliable. Library paper Unemployment by ethnic background uses annual data to
provide further breakdowns by ethnic group and gender.

Chart 10
Unemployment rates for men and women by ethnic group

%, October-December 2007 to October-December 2021
18.0 Women (minority ethnic group)
16.0 Men (minority ethnic group)
Men (White ethnic group)

14.0
Women (White ethnic group)
12.0
10.0
8.0
6.0
4.0
2.0
0.0
2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019 2021
Source: ONS, Table A09, Labour market status by ethnic group, 15 February 2022
Notes: Minority ethnic background includes all people stating their ethnicity as 'Mixed', 'Indian',
'Pakistani', 'Bangladeshi', 'Chinese', 'Black/African/Caribbean' or 'Other'.
Employment and economic inactivity

Employment rates for men are consistently higher than for women across all
ethnic groups. There was an employment rate of 75.5% for men and 62.3% for
women from a minority ethnic group and of 79.6% for men and 74.2% for
women from a White ethnic group in October to December 2021.
This is partly because rates of economic inactivity (people not in work and not
looking for work) are usually higher for women than men. For example,
October to December 2021, the inactivity rate was 18.6% for men and 32.2%
for women from a minority ethnic group and 17.3% for men and 23.2% for
women from a White ethnic group.
The Library briefing Unemployment by ethnic background provides further
breakdowns by ethnic group and gender.
1.9 Labour market activity by disability status
As shown in the chart below, disabled women have a higher unemployment

rate, (6.5%), a considerably higher economic inactivity (not in work and not
looking for work) rate (43.4%), and a lower employment rate (52.9%) than
non-disabled women.

Employment rates are similar for disabled women are disabled men. Disabled
men are slightly more likely to be unemployed than disabled women, and
disabled women have a slightly higher inactivity rate than disabled men.
For more information, see the Library briefing on people with disabilities in
employment.
Chart 11
Key labour market statistics by disability status and sex

Aged 16-64, Oct-Dec 2021, %
Women Men
78.9% 85.0%
In Employment
52.9% 53.4%
Not disabled
3.4% 3.6%
Unemployed Disabled
6.5% 8.3%
18.3% 11.8%
Inactive
43.4% 41.8%
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
Source: ONS, Labour Market Bulletin, Table A08, 15 February 2022

Notes: Government Statistical Service harmonised standard definition of disability.

1.10 International comparisons
The employment rate for women in the UK was 72.1% in July-September 2021,
compared to 63.7% in the EU. The UK also had a higher rate than the United
States (65.1%) and Japan (71.5%).
Iceland had the highest female employment rate at 78.5%, followed by the
Netherlands at 77.9%. Costa Rica had the lowest female employment rate at
45.7%.
Chart 12
Female employment rates, July-September 2021

OECD countries
Iceland 79%
Netherlands 78%
Switzerland 76%
New Zealand 76%
Norway 75%
Sweden 74%
Germany 73%
Lithuania 73%
Estonia 73%
Denmark 73%
Finland 72%
United Kingdom 72%
Japan 72%
Australia 71%
Canada 71%
Slovenia 70%
Latvia 69%
Austria 69%
Hungary 69%
Portugal 69%
Czech Republic 68%
Ireland 67%
Luxembourg 67%
G7 67%
Slovak Republic 66%
Israel 66%
United States 65%
France 65%
Poland 64%
EU - 27 countries 64%
Belgium 63%
OECD 61%
Spain 59%
Korea 58%
Italy 50%
Greece 50%
Chile 49%
Colombia 48%
Mexico 47%
Costa Rica 46%

Source: OECD, Short-term labour statistics

Note: Rate is % of women aged 15-64 in employment; seasonally adjusted.
Figures are published by OECD and therefore may differ from what is published elsewhere in this
briefing.

2 Women’s earnings
2.1 Trends in average pay
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), median weekly earnings
for female employees working full-time were £558 at April 2021, compared to
£652 for male full-time employees. 9
After adjusting for inflation, average earnings decreased for both men and
Median weekly pay women following the economic downturn in 2008, although in the immediate
for female full-time aftermath average pay for men fell more sharply.
employees in 2021
In 2021, median pay for female full-time employees was around 3% higher
was higher than its than its 2008 level, while median pay for men was around 5% lower. The
pre-recession level, median is the point at which half of people earn more and half earn less.
after adjusting for
inflation. Chart 13
Real median weekly earnings for full-time employees

1997-2021, April 2021 prices (adjusted for CPI inflation)
800
Men
700
600
500 Women
400
300
200
100
0
1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019 2021
Source: ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2021
9
Data in this section are taken from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.

2.2 The gender pay gap
Part of the difference between men and women’s weekly earnings can be
attributed to hours worked. Therefore, the gender pay gap, which measures
the difference between male and female earnings, is more commonly
measured by hourly pay.
At April 2021, the gender pay gap in median hourly pay (excluding overtime)
between men and women was:
• 7.9% for full-time employees,

• -2.7% for part-time employees (meaning women tended to be paid
more than men),
• 15.4% for all employees.
The gender pay gap for all employees is larger than either the full-time or
The gender pay gap part-time pay gaps. This is because a much higher share of women than men
for full-time are employed part-time and part-time workers tend to earn less per hour
employees has than those working full-time.
decreased from 17% Broadly speaking, there has been a downward trend in the full-time pay gap
in 1997 to 7.9% in since 1997 and the overall pay gap has also decreased. The part-time pay gap
2021. has widened since the early 2000s.
Chart 14
Gender pay gap

UK, 1997-2021
35%
30%
25% All employees
20%
15%
Full-time
10%
5%
0%
-5%
Part-time
-10%
1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019 2021
Dashed lines indicate breaks in the series in 2004, 2006 and 2011

2.3 The gender pay gap varies with age
The gender pay gap is small or negative for employees in their 20s or 30s, but
widens considerably for older age groups.
Chart 15
Gender pay gap by age, April 2021

15%
13% Full-time Part-time
11%
9%
7%
5%
3%
1%
-1%
-3%
-5%
18-21 22-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+
One reason for the age differences in the pay gap is that factors affecting
women’s employment and earnings opportunities become more evident when
women are in their 30s and 40s. For example, time spent out of the labour
market to care for children or elderly relatives could affect future earnings
when a person returns to work.
Another explanation is generational differences: younger workers have higher

levels of educational attainment on average and may be more likely to work
in certain, higher paying industries or occupations.
This is discussed in greater depth in the Library's briefing paper on the gender
pay gap.
2.4 Low pay
Women are more likely than men to be working in jobs paying the National
Minimum Wage.
The Low Pay Commission estimates around 6.2% of female employees aged
25 and over were paid at the relevant minimum wage rate at April 2021,

compared to just under 4.5% of male employees aged 25 and over. 10 The
National Living Wage (the NMW rate for workers aged 25+) was set at £8.91
an hour from April 2021.
Around 25% of female employees had hourly pay below the voluntary living
wage rate (as set by the Living Wage Foundation) at April 2020, compared to
18% of male employees. At April 2020, the living wage was £10.75 for people
working in London and £9.50 for those working outside of London. 11
The Resolution Foundation reports that 57% of low paid employees in 2020
were women, and women, particularly those working part-time, have
therefore been the biggest beneficiaries of a recent reduction in low pay. The
proportion of women working part-time in low pay fell by 7% between 2019
and 2020. 12
Previous research by the Resolution Foundation, looked at the extent to which

Women are more people in low-paid jobs are able to move into higher-paid work or remain
likely than men to “stuck” in low pay (where low pay is defined as having earnings below two
remain in low-paid thirds of median hourly pay). 13
work over the long Low-paid women were more likely than men to be stuck, although the risk of
term. remaining in low pay is lower than it was in the 1980s. Excluding those who
leave the data parameters over the following decade, the proportion of
women getting stuck has fallen from 48% in 1981-1991 to 30% in 2006 -2016.
10
Low Pay Commission, 2021 Report, Figure 3.3
11
Resolution Foundation, Low Pay Britain 2021, 7 June 2021
12
Resolution Foundation, Low Pay Britain 2021, 7 June 2021
13
Resolution Foundation, Workertech and low pay, An overview of research on low-paid workers in the
UK, 19 July 2021

3 Women leading businesses
3.1 Female-led SMEs
In 2020, 16% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) employers were

led by women (meaning that they were either led by one woman or by a
management team that is majority female). This is similar to figures since
2015. 14
The proportion of SMEs with no employees that were owned or led by women
was higher, at 21% in 2020. 15 This was four percentage points higher than in
2019.
Examining only SMEs with employees, women-led businesses were most likely
to be in the health (37%), education (36%), accommodation and food
services and other services and (both 25%). 16 The “other services” sector will
include businesses such as sports facilities, funeral homes, hairdressers and
businesses offering beauty treatments.
Many of these sectors are those most severely impacted by restrictions

introduced to combat the spread of Covid-19 – in addition to the education,
health and accommodation and food services sectors.
It is estimated that in the UK, women-led SMEs contribute about £85 billion to
economic output (16% of the UK SME approximate Gross Value Added total). 17
3.2 Female-led start-ups
Estimates by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitoring Consortium show the

proportion of women involved in ‘total early-stage entrepreneurial activity’ or
TEA. TEA includes the owning or running of any business that is less than
three-and-a-half years old.
14
BEIS, Small business survey (employers), 18 August 2021, pg. 63. The 2020 survey was conducted
between September 2020 and April 2021
15
BEIS, Small business survey (no employees), 18 August 2021, pg. 32
16
BEIS, Small business survey (employers), 18 August 2021, pg. 63
17
BIS, Contribution of women-led and MEG-led businesses to the UK non-financial economy, 2015, p3.

In 2020/21, the TEA rate in the UK (the proportion of working aged people
involved in TEA) for men was 9.5% and 6.2% for women. 18
The proportion of
men involved in This means that the TEA gap (the difference between the male and female
start-ups was 3.3 rates) was 3.3 percentage points in the UK.
percentage points
The chart below shows the TEA gap in the countries covered by the Global
higher than the Entrepreneurship Monitoring Consortium study. The gap in the USA was 3.7
proportion of percentage points, while the gap in Germany was 0.7 percentage points. Of
women involved in the selected countries, the TEA gap is highest in Armenia at 11.3 percentage
start-ups in the UK points.
There was a negative TEA gap Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Oman,
Angola and Togo, meaning a higher proportion of women were involved in
start-ups than the proportion of men.
Chart 16
TEA gender gap, percentage points, selected countries

The difference between the male and female Total early stage Entrepreneurial activity (TEA) rates
Togo
Angola
Oman
Kazakhstan
Indonesia
Saudi Arabia
Germany
Spain
Switzerland
Poland
Austria
Italy
Colombia
Taiwan
Slovenia
Russia
UK
Burkina Faso
Canada
Kuwait
Uruguay
Israel
USA
Netherlands
Greece
Iran
Brazil
UAE
South Korea
Sweden
Cyprus
Norway
Morocco
India
Guatemala
Luxembourg
Qatar
Panama
Croatia
Chile
Latvia
Slovak Republic
Egypt
-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10 12
18
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2020/21 Global Report, 2021, pg.

Source: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2020/21 Global Report, 2021
Female-led start-ups and Covid-19

The only Government-backed business loan scheme that reports loans data
by gender is the Future Fund.
The Future Fund provided convertible loans to UK start-ups (companies that

rely on equity investment and are pre-revenue or pre-profit). The loans must
be matched by funding from private investors. The loans will convert into
shares in the company in certain circumstances.
The scheme is administered by the government-owned British Business Bank

and closed to new applications on 31 January 2021.
The British Business Bank reported as of 30 June 2021, 75% of Future Fund
loan funding had gone to firms with mixed-gender management teams. 19%
had gone to firms will all-male management and 1% to all-female
management teams.
Future Fund: management team diversity

30 June 2021
Number of Total loan % Total

Gender loans value (£m) value
Mixed gender 811 850.2 75%
All male 314 219.1 19%
All female 16 15.1 1%
Non-disclosed 49 52.2 50%
Source: British Business Bank
Notes: Data is self-reported by companies applying.
Researchers from Kings College London published a report in September 2020

that discussed the challenges for entrepreneurs during Covid-19 (PDF),
including gender impacts. 19 The report concluded there were many areas
were female and male entrepreneurs’ experiences did not differ but, “on
balance the Covid-19 pandemic impacted women entrepreneurs more
adversely than men entrepreneurs.”
19
Ute Stephan, Przemyslaw Zbierowski, and Pierre-Jean Hanard, Entrepreneurship and Covid-19:
Challenges and opportunities, September 2020.

3.3 Women on boards
A government backed target that FTSE100 boards should have a minimum of

25% female representation by 2015 was set in the 2011 report by Lord Davies
of Abersoch, Women on boards (PDF). 20
In October 2015, it was announced that this target had been met, and that
26% of FTSE100 board members were female.
In June 2021, 37.7% of FTSE100 directorships were held by women, and

women made up 34.9% of FTSE250 directorships. 21
The following chart shows how the proportion of women on FTSE100 boards
has increased steadily since the late 1990s with more significant increases in
recent years.
Chart 17
FTSE-100 board members by gender

1999-2021, %
100%
80%
60%
Male
40%
20%
Female
0%
1999 2002 2005 2008 2011 2014 2017 2020
Source: Cranfield University, Female FTSE100 report, 2021 and House of Commons Library
The Hampton Alexander Review, a successor to the Davies Review, was

established in 2016. This review was published annually between 2016 and
2021 and chaired by Sir Philip Hampton and the late Dame Helen Alexander.
The aim of the Hampton Alexander Review was to “drive to improve further
the number of women in senior leadership positions and on the boards of FTSE
350 companies” 22 – the first review published in 2016 included the following
targets:
20
Lord Davies of Abersoch and BIS, Women on boards, February 2011, pg. 4
21
Cranfield University, Female FTSE Index, 2021, pg. 6
22
Sir Philip Hampton and Dame Helen Alexander, Hampton Alexander Review: FTSE women leaders,
improving gender balance in FTSE leadership, November 2016, pg. 5

• FTSE 350 companies should aim for a minimum of 33% women’s

representation on their Boards by 2020.
• Stakeholders ensure increasing numbers of women are appointed to the
roles of Chair, Senior Independent Director and Executive Director
positions on boards of FTSE 350 companies.
• FTSE 100 companies should aim for a minimum of 33% women’s
representation across their Executive Committee and in the Direct
Reports to the Executive Committee by 2020. 23
The final review, published in 2021 found that 220 FTSE350 companies had
reached the target of having 33% representation of women on their boards
and that across all FTSE 350 board members, in aggregate, 1,026 (34.3%)
were women. 24
The number of women in the Combined Executive Committee & Direct Reports
of FTSE100 companies reached 30.6%, short of the 33% target, though up
from 28.6% in 2019, which was the largest increase in women in leadership in
four years.
Following the final Hampton Alexander Review, the successor FTSE Women
Leaders Review (PDF) was published in February 2022. This is an independent,
voluntary and business-led initiative supported by Government, with the aim
of increasing the representation of women on FTSE350 boards.
The review includes the following specific targets:
• Increased voluntary target for FTSE 350 Boards, and for FTSE 350
Leadership teams to a minimum of 40% women, by the end of 2025.
• FTSE 350 companies to have at least one woman as Chair or Senior
Independent Director on the Board, and/or one woman in the Chief
Executive or Finance Director role in the company, by the end of 2025.
• Key stakeholders to set best practice guidance, or have mechanisms in
place to encourage FTSE 350 Boards that have not achieved the prior
33% target, to do so.
The scope of the review is also extended beyond the remit of the Davies and
Hampton Alexander reviews to include the largest 50 private companies in
the UK by sales. 25
23
Sir Philip Hampton and Dame Helen Alexander, Ibid, pg. 10-11
24
Sir Philip Hampton and Dame Helen Alexander, Hampton Alexander Review: Improving gender
balance - 5 year summary report, February 2021, pg. 10-11
25
FTSE Women Leaders Review: Achieving Gender Balance, February 2022, pg. 11

3.4 Women in business – Further reading
The Fawcett Society report Sex and Power 2020 provides a breakdown of
women’s representation in politics, business and the arts, and provides
analysis of the challenges facing women of colour.
The Alison Rose Review of female entrepreneurship commissioned by the

Treasury and published in 2019 looked at barriers faced by women starting
and growing businesses.
The Investing in Women Code (established following the Alison Rose Review)
first annual progress report, published in April 2021, includes data on bank
financing and venture capital applications led by women.
The British Business Bank report Alone Together: entrepreneurship and

diversity in the UK, published in October 2020 examines the effect of ethnic
and economic background as well as gender and place on entrepreneurial
opportunities and outcomes. It reports that female business owners
experience significantly lower median turnover than male business owners.
The Diversity Beyond Gender report, published in November 2020, looks at

venture capital investment according to race, gender and educational
background over the past 10 years. The report was published by Extend
Ventures (business, research & financial experts aiming to diversify access to
finance).

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Research Briefing

If you have any comments on our briefings please email

2 Commons Library Research Briefing, 4 March 2022

1 Trends in female employment 6

1.1 Women in work 6

2.1 Trends in average pay 21

3 Women leading businesses 25

3.1 Female-led SMEs 25

3 Commons Library Research Briefing, 4 March 2022

This paper provides statistics and analysis on women’s participation in the

How much are women paid?

4 Commons Library Research Briefing, 4 March 2022

• 7.9% for full-time employees,

In June 2021, 37.7% of directors of FTSE100 companies were women. In the

1 Related Library briefings

5 Commons Library Research Briefing, 4 March 2022

1 Trends in female employment1

1.1 Women in work

15.52 million women in the UK aged 16 and over were in employment in

Employment rates for women and men, 1971-2021

6 Commons Library Research Briefing, 4 March 2022

1.2 Full and part-time work

9.68 million women were working full-time in October to December 2021,

In the years immediately following the economic downturn in 2008, women’s

The proportion of men working part-time climbed from around 7% in 1992 to

Changes in full-time and part-time employment since Q4 2007

Women working full-

Source: ONS, Labour Market bulletin, Table EMP01, 15 February 2022

7 Commons Library Research Briefing, 4 March 2022

1.3 Employees and the self-employed

Change in self-employment and employee numbers since Q4 2007

8 Commons Library Research Briefing, 4 March 2022

Over the pandemic, the number of employees increased while self

1.4 Employment by industry

9 Commons Library Research Briefing, 4 March 2022

Women's employment by industry, September 2021

Health and social work

0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0

Source: ONS, Workforce jobs series via NOMIS

10 Commons Library Research Briefing, 4 March 2022

1.5 Employment by occupation

Associate professional & technical

Administrative and secretarial

Process, plant, machine operatives

Caring, leisure and other services

Sales and customer service

11 Commons Library Research Briefing, 4 March 2022

Professional occupations Higher paying

Associate professional & technical

Administrative and secretarial

Process, plant, machine operatives Men Women Men Women

Caring, leisure and other services

Sales and customer service

12 Commons Library Research Briefing, 4 March 2022

1.6 Regional differences in women’s employment

50% 60% 70% 80% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Source: ONS, Annual Population Survey via NOMIS

Further information on men and women’s employment and earnings by region

13 Commons Library Research Briefing, 4 March 2022

1.7 Unemployment and economic inactivity

Inactivity rates for women and men, 1971-2021

Source: ONS, UK Labour Market bulletin, Table A02, 15 February 2022.

14 Commons Library Research Briefing, 4 March 2022

Main reason why people are economically inactive