Gender Equality in the United Kingdom
| United_Kingdom | |
 Flag of United_Kingdom | |
| Population (in Mil.) | 62.74 |
| Gross Domestic Product (In USD Billions - WB) | 2,445.41 |
| Sex Ratio (m/f) | 0.98 |
| Life Expectancy Ratio (f/m) | 1.053 |
| Fertility Rate | 1.91 |
| Income Ratio (f/m) | 0.67 |
| Literacy Ratio (f/m) | 1 |
| Tertiary Enrolment Ratio (f/m) | 1.37 |
| Women in Parliament (in %) | 19.7 |
| INDICES | |
| Human Development Index | 28/169 |
| Social Institutions and Gender Index | - /86 |
| Gender Inequality Index | 32/138 |
| Gender Equity Index | 26/157 |
| Women’s Economic Opportunity Index | 14/113 |
| Global Gender Gap Index | 15/134 |
| More information on variables | |
Contents |
Overview
Although a pioneer of women's suffrage and feminism, the United Kingdom still faces considerable challenges before it attains gender equality. Discrimination against working women because they are pregnant and domestic violence (almost 3 million women in the UK have experienced some form of violence) remain significant problems in the UK. Improvements in education attainment is undermined by gender disparities in salaries, which continues to increase. The final report of the former Equal Opportunities Commission [replaced by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in 2006] estimated that it would take at least 20 years before gender equality in education and employment is a reality.
Legislation
The Gender Equality Duty came into force on 6th April 2007 and applies to all public authorities in England, Scotland and Wales. The Duty is a legal requirement on all public authorities, when carrying out all their functions, to have due regard to the need: 1) To eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment on the grounds of sex; and 2) To promote equality of opportunity between women and men.
Employment
The gender gap in salaries in the UK is one of the worst in Europe. Women working full-time earn on average 17% less per hour than men working full-time. For ethnic minority women, the gap is even higher at 20%. More women work part-time than men: almost half the women’s jobs are part time compared with around one in six of the men’s. n 2006, female graduates earned, on average, 15% less than their male counterparts at the age of 24, with this gender pay gap widening with age (increasing to 40.5% for women graduates aged 41-45)
Education
On the whole girls outperform boys at all levels of education in the UK. In 2005/06, 64 per cent of girls in their last year of compulsory education achieved five or more GCSE grades A* to C, compared with 54 per cent of boys. At tertiary level, there are more women than men entering full-time undergraduate courses: 54 per cent of new undergraduates in 2006 were women. Among those awarded degrees, men and women were equally likely to gain a first class degree, with a narrowing of the male/female gap.
The subjects selected for vocational qualifications differ between men and women. Men are more likely to study vocational qualifications for construction, planning and the built environment, or engineering and manufacturing technologies (89 per cent of all awards), whereas women are more likely to study health, public services and care related vocational qualifications.
In the news
- BBC 17.07.2010 : Living with domestic violence and finding help - According to official home office estimates, one in four women suffer abuse at sometime in their lives.
External Links
- http://www.equalities.gov.uk
- Women's National Commission: http://www.thewnc.org.uk/
- Fawcett Society: http://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/
- http://www.endviolenceagainstwomen.org.uk/index.php
- http://www.statistics.gov.uk/focuson/gender/
The Women, Business and the Law
Where are laws equal for men and women?
The Women, Business and the Law report presents indicators based on laws and regulations affecting women's prospects as entrepreneurs and employees. Several of these indicators draw on the Gender Law Library, a collection of over 2,000 legal provisions impacting women's economic status. This report does not seek to judge or rank countries, but to provide information to inform discussions about women’s economic rights. Women, Business and the Law provides data covering 6 areas: accessing institutions,using property, getting a job, providing incentives to work, building credit, and going to court. Read more about the methodology.
For detailed information on United Kingdom, please visit the Women, Business and
the Law United Kingdom page.
The FAO Gender and Land Rights Database
The FAO Gender and Land Rights Database contains country level information on social, economic, political and cultural issues related to the gender inequalities embedded in those rights. Disparity on land access is one of the major causes for social and gender inequalities in rural areas, and it jeopardizes, as a consequence, rural food security as well as the wellbeing of individuals and families.
Six categories
The Database offers information on the 6 following Categories:
- National legal frame
- International treaties and conventions
- Customary law
- Land tenure and related Institutions
- Civil society organizations
- Selected Land Related Statistics
For detailed information on the United Kingdom, please visit the report on the United Kingdom in the FAO Gender and Land Rights Database.
