Gender Equalities at Work – Learning Lessons from the Past for the Present
The UK Women’s Budget Group are delighted to host this discussion on Gender Equalities at Work – Learning Lessons from the Past for the Present.
UK Policy Briefing
Briefing I: Introduction and Headline Measures
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) releases regular updates on the UK labour market. This includes key headline measures such as employment, unemployment, and economic inactivity 1 . Noting changes in the figures themselves is straightforward – rates go up or down – but the causal factors behind them are more complex.
While headline measures are useful for gaining a snapshot of the current context and how things change over time, they also mask inequalities based on characteristics such as , ethnicity, age and disability. To gain insight into why any changes are taking place, it is important to understand how labour market participation varies between different groups, and why any changes may be occurring.
This briefing – the first of a series – provides an overview of headline measures: employment, unemployment and economic inactivity through a gender lens.
Due to recent sampling problems with its Labour Force Survey, the ONS advises caution when interpreting short-term changes in headline rates. It recommends using them as part of their suite of labour market indicators alongside Workforce Jobs, claimant count data and Pay As You Earn Real Time Information (PAYE RTI) estimates. The key purpose of this briefing is to analyse longer term trends and mark key differences between men and women, but it should be noted that some uncertainty exists regarding the accuracy of exact figures.
The UK Women’s Budget Group are delighted to host this discussion on Gender Equalities at Work – Learning Lessons from the Past for the Present.
The WBG invite you to the next in our series of Autumn/Winter webinars addressing the most pressing issues facing women across the UK today.
How can investment in care jobs & our social security system help to protect women’s incomes, & tackle climate change & gender inequality?
The Women’s Budget Group are pleased to have submitted the following responses to the Labour Party’s National Policy Forum.