UK Policy Briefing

HMRC data prompts concern of ‘gender furlough gap’

This briefing analyses data from HMRC showing that women are more likely than men to have been furloughed.

20th November 2020

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Data from HMRC¹ shows women are more likely than men to have been furloughed:

Women were the majority (52.1%) of workers put on furlough across the UK March – August 2020. Roughly 133,000 more women were furloughed than men across the UK.
Women were the majority of furloughed workers in every UK region except the West Midlands. More women than men were furloughed in 72% of parliamentary constituencies.
The Chancellor’s own constituency has the highest gender furlough gap, with the highest percentage of women furloughed (60.5% of eligible employees.)
The gender furlough gap is higher for younger women than older women: women aged 18-24 were 53.1% of those furloughed in this age group, compared with 51.5% in the 45-64 age group.