THE north’s economy could benefit from as much as £2.3 billion if the number of women in the workforce was increased to the same level as the UK’s top performing region, a new report from PwC suggests.
The Women in Work 2021 Index concludes Northern Ireland has the most to gain by ‘levelling-up’ female participation in the labour force.
The report found that we have the lowest gender pay gap in the UK (10 per cent) and lowest female unemployment rate (two per cent).
But PwC said Northern Ireland is held back by having the lowest female labour force participation in the UK (70 per cent), in contrast to the 79 per cent rate in the south west of England.
The report states that raising female participation in the workforce to 79 per cent across the UK would add 840,000 jobs, potentially worth £48 billion to the economy.
The PwC index suggests that bringing Northern Ireland up to that rate could boost economic output by as much as 5.5 per cent, potentially adding 50,600 jobs, including around 31,000 full-time roles.
Lynne Rainey, head of place and purpose for PwC Northern Ireland, said: “When we make policies that enable more women to join the workforce, everyone benefits - as this year’s index shows.
“The pandemic has brought into sharp focus the vulnerability of women’s place in paid employment - in the UK, women are a third more likely to work in a sector that was completely shutdown compared to men.”
The latest report follows PwC’s 2016 research, which found 60 per cent of professional women are likely to return to lower-skilled and lower-paid jobs after career breaks.
With tens of thousands of workers set to return from furlough in the coming weeks and months, Lynne Rainey called on employers to tailor recovery plans to meet the needs of women, with focused skills development and training initiatives.
She also urged firms here to commit to publishing gender pay gaps.
“If we don't have policies in place to directly address the unequal burden of care and to enable more women to enter jobs in growing sectors of the economy, there’s a risk women will return to fewer hours, lower-skilled and lower-paid jobs,” she warned.
“Gender pay gap reporting is one issue that should be a fundamental piece of accountability but we should work together with the government and policymakers to look at the whole picture.
“There are a wide variety of factors creating barriers for women in work and overall economic growth, from the macroeconomic factors such as number and quality of jobs in the region to individual factors such as access to childcare, household income and employability - we don’t have time to lose to get this right.”
