News / employment
Women missing out on South West jobs boom
Women are missing out on the South West’s jobs boom, new figures suggest.
People living in the region are more likely to be employed than those in any other part of the UK, in a trend showing more positive news for the local economy.
But Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows that women in the South West are working fewer hours than any other region in the country, at an average of 25.7 hours.
Taking career breaks to have and look after children often puts women at a disadvantage against their male peers as they climb the career ladder. Many women also go back to work part-time after having children.
Alison Edgar
Alison Edgar set up South West-based The Entrepreneur’s Godmother after returning to work and finding her career prospects limited because of her part-time hours.
“Women are the child bearers and until men can have kids that’s not going to change – it’s not fair but that’s life,” she said.
“Women can see things in a different way to men in a business, they tend to have a high empathy level while men can sometimes be quite cut throat.”
But she added that the “bustling” South West economy was seeing more and more women creating startups, allowing them to make money, employ others and work around family life.
The ONS employment figures show the South West is still leading the way for people in work, with 79.4 per cent of people employed.
Jemimah Higginson, from Business West, said the new data was an “excellent reflection on the South West region”.
She added: “However, we are aware that the data shows that the South West has the lowest weekly average of hours worked at 31.1 hours a week.
“We know that under-employment, plus the reported drop in average full-time workers’ weekly earnings when adjusted for inflation, means there are signs that many consumers in the region will be feeling financially squeezed.
“The gender breakdown of average hours worked in the UK between April 2017 to March 2018 showed that women in the South West, at 25.7 hours, worked the lowest number of average hours in the country, whilst the male average of 35.9 hours was higher than four other UK regions.
“It seems more could be done to enable women to work longer hours, in order for all to access the benefits the region is experiencing.”
But generally the economic outlook is good. For the three months ending June 2018 the South West had both the highest number of people in work, and the lowest number of people out of work.
The employment rate in the region has grown from 78.7 per cent to 79.4 per cent over the past year, the figures show.
Higginson said: “We are pleased to see that the South West has the highest employment rate in the UK of 79.4 per cent and the lowest unemployment rate at 2.9 per cent.”
Jack Pitts is a local democracy reporter for Bristol.
Read more: Bristol’s economy is flourishing, but prosperity is not shared among all
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