The number of women in employment in the UK has reached a record high, with 16.37 million women in work, according to a new House of Commons Library report ahead of International Women’s Day.
However, the gender pay gap remains, with full-time female employees earning a median weekly wage of £672 compared to £773 for men.
The report highlights that women’s employment rate now stands at 71.8 per cent – compared with 78.2 per cent of men – with 36 per cent of employed women working part-time, in contrast to 14 per cent of men.
The gender pay gap in median hourly pay (excluding overtime) between men and women was seven per cent for full-time employees, although for part-time employees the median hourly pay was three per cent higher for women.
The sectors with the highest female employment were health and social work (22 per cent of all jobs held by women), education (12 per cent), and wholesale and retail trade (12 per cent). Women occupied 77 per cent of roles in health and social work and 70 per cent in education.
The report also found that in 2023, 15 per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises with employees were led by women, while approximately 10 per cent of working-age women were early-stage entrepreneurs, compared to 12 per cent of men. Nearly 46 per cent of entrepreneurs in the UK were women, up from about one-third in 2018/19.
As of January 2025, women held 42.8 per cent of FTSE100 and 42.6 percent of FTSE350 directorships, with more than half (53 per cent) of new FTSE100 board appointments being women.
The report stated: “There were 10.42 million women working full time in October to December 2024, while 5.96 million were working part time. There has been strong growth in full-time employment since the end of 2012.
“Thirty-six per cent of women in employment were working part-time at the end of 2024. This is down from around 45 per cent during the 1990s and early 2000s and 42 percent in 2018.
“In the last fifteen years women working full-time has increased quickly, with a sharper increase during the covid-19 pandemic.”
