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Reports

Gender parity will not be attained this century says WEF

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Gender Parity Image

None of us will see gender parity in our lifetimes, and nor likely will many of our children. That’s the sobering finding of the Global Gender Gap Report 2020, which reveals that gender parity will not be attained for 99.5 years.

Why gender parity matters

Gender parity has a fundamental bearing on whether or not economies and societies thrive. Developing and deploying one-half of the world’s available talent has a huge bearing on the growth, competitiveness and future-readiness of economies and businesses worldwide.

The index’s rankings offer an effective means to benchmark progress. They are designed to create global awareness of the challenges that gender gaps pose, as well as the opportunities that emerge when action is taken to reduce them.

Political representation on the rise, but is it enough?

Political Empowerment

Now in its 14th year, the Global Gender Gap Report 2020 benchmarks 153 countries on their progress towards gender parity in four dimensions: Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival and Political Empowerment. In addition, this year’s report examines gender gap prospects in the professions of the future.

The report presents a decidedly mixed picture. Overall, the quest towards gender parity has improved, ducking back under a century and registering a marked improvement on the 108 years in the 2018 index. Greater political representation for women has contributed to this, but overall the political arena remains the worst-performing dimension.

At the other end of the scale, it is forecast to take just 12 years to attain gender parity in education, and in fact, overall, gender parity has been fully achieved in 40 of the 153 countries ranked.

The “role model effect” reaps dividends at the top …

Drilling down into the facts and figures, it will take 95 years to close the gender gap in political representation, with women in 2019 holding 25.2% of parliamentary (lower-house) seats and 21.2% of ministerial positions.

Positively, the so-called “role model effect” may be reaping dividends in terms of leadership and wages. Improving political empowerment for women has, as a general rule, corresponded with increased numbers of women in senior roles in the labour market.

Women on Boards

… but not lower down

In contrast to this positive progress in the lofty world of leadership, women’s participation in the wider labour market has stalled and financial disparities are increasing. Globally, the trend is towards a deteriorating picture in emerging and developing economies, which is offsetting the gains made in OECD countries.

Although education attainment as well as health and survival enjoy much closer to parity (96.1% and 95.7% respectively), one important area of concern is that of economic participation and opportunity. This is the only dimension where progress has regressed. Here, the figures are sobering, with a deteriorating situation forcing gender parity to a lowly 57.8%, which in time represents a massive 257 years before gender parity can be achieved.

The report highlights three primary reasons for this: women have greater representation in roles that are being automated; not enough women are entering professions where wage growth is the most pronounced (most obviously, but not exclusively, technology), and women face the perennial problem of insufficient care infrastructure and access to capital.

Working towards a better outlook for future jobs

Looking to the future, the report reveals that the greatest challenge preventing the economic gender gap from closing is women’s under-representation in emerging roles. In cloud computing, just 12% of professionals are women. Similarly, in engineering and Data and AI, the numbers are 15% and 26% respectively.

Gender Parity in Professions

To address these deficiencies, workforce strategies must ensure that women are better equipped (in terms of improved skills or reskilling) to deal with the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Diverse hiring is another area for improvement (reflecting the current situation that sees gender parity in an in-demand skillset but not equal representation), along with creating inclusive work cultures.

Best in class

  • The top country for gender parity remained Iceland (for the 11th year running).
  • The most-improved countries were Albania, Ethiopia, Mali, Mexico and Spain.
  • Of the 149 countries ranked, 101 improved their scores on the 2019 index (this excludes the five new countries that have joined the ranking this year).
  • A further 48 saw their performance unchanged, while the top 10th percentile saw their scores improve more than 3.3% year-on-year.
  • A total of 35 countries have achieved gender parity in education.
  • In healthcare, 48 countries have achieved near-parity and 71 have closed at least 97% of the gap.

Could do better

  • Globally, gender parity stands at 68.6% and the bottom 10 countries have closed just 40% of the gender gap.
  • Political empowerment scores are poor. In terms of parliamentary representation, globally women have secured just 25% of available positions, a figure that slips to 21% at a ministerial level. At this level, there are nine where they have no representation.
  • In the past 50 years, 85 states have had no female head of state.
  • In terms of economic participation, the gender gap will take 257 years to close (compared to 202 years in the 2019 report).
  • Globally, only 55% of women (aged 15-64) are engaged in the labour market as opposed to 78% of men.
  • There are 72 countries where women are barred from opening bank accounts or obtaining credit.

There is no country where men spend the same amount of time on unpaid work as women. In countries where the ratio is lowest, it is still 2:1.

The Pay Gap

Trends

By region, Western Europe has made the most progress on gender parity (standing at 76.7%), followed by North America (72.9%), Latin America and the Caribbean (72.2%), Eastern Europe and Central Asia (71.3%), Sub-Saharan Africa (68.2%), South Asia (66.1%) and the Middle East and North Africa (60.5%).

These figures, however, mask several key trends, which have a significant impact on the time to gender parity. In North America progress stalled during 2019, while further south in Latin America and the Caribbean, several countries performed strongly over the course of the year.

How to get ahead

This year’s index highlights areas where policy-makers need to focus greater attention. At the federal level, greater political representation – and in some nations, any representation at all – for women is a pressing need.

Looking ahead, policy-makers need to take action to better equip younger generations – particularly in developing nations – with the skills to succeed in the world of future jobs. Increasing formal education attainment is necessary – and the strong gender parity in this area to be applauded – but it is insufficient to provide young men and women graduating from every level of education with the types of skills needed for the Fourth Industrial Revolution’s job market. In this respect, gender gaps remain and are likely to become exacerbated unless addressed now.

 

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Insuring Women’s Futures, the 6 Moments that Matter

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Insuring Women’s Futures is a voluntary, market-led programme established under the Chartered Insurance Institute to improve women’s financial resilience. It brings together a cross-section of business leaders, experts and influencers drawn from policy, regulation, academia and the third sector to support making lasting change. For the past three years, these contributors have shared their insights, experiences and expertise.

The result is a series of ambitious, practical Manifesto recommendations.

Insuring Women’s Futures has identified ten overarching recommendations where interventions can be made to improve financial resilience for women and wider society in the UK. The recommendations take into account how life in the UK is changing and the implications for all of our financial resilience, now and in the future. The interventions combine policy and practice and are centred on where the most impact can be made, targeting Moments that Matter across women’s financial life journeys.

Recommended interventions

  • Inspiring young women to own their financial future
  • Pensions equality in the workplace
  • Equal pension rights for those on low pay
  • Workplace flexibility and financial wellbeing to address the impact of part-time on pay and pensions
  • Financial engagement and wellbeing strategies that reflect women’s whole life journeys
  • Insurance and financial services’ role in supporting financial futures
  • Fair pensions outcomes for those in relationships and for break ups
  • Pensions for carers and a national conversation about caring
  • Gender-disaggregated data and use in policy and practice
  • Female Financial Resilience Forum

These Moments that Matter impact women across the life stages from girls to elderly women according to individual life journeys. For example, becoming a mother or caring for an elderly relative have different consequences depending on whether and how women are working, studying or are in good or poor health.

The 6 Moments that Matter

  1. Growing up, studying and re-qualifying
  2. Entering and re-entering the workplace
  3. Relationships: making up and breaking up
  4. Motherhood and becoming a carer
  5. Later life, planning and entering retirement
  6. Ill-health, infirmity and dying

12 Perils and Pitfalls

By analysing women’s life circumstances, the decisions women take and the life events women face, the research highlighted key differences in men’s and women’s risks in life.  12 Perils and Pitfalls have been identified as the top financial risks faced by women through the life course.  In addition, the research identifies patterns in how the Perils and Pitfalls impact women’s financial resilience at different life stages on the Female Financial Life Journey, with the 6 Moments that Matter serving as key intervention points where meaningful change can be made.

 

insuringwomensfutures

 

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Step-change needed for women in senior leadership roles

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This year’s Hampton Alexander Review, published today shows the strongest year of progress since targets were first set in 2011:

  • FTSE 100 on track to reach the 33% target for women on boards ahead of the 2020 deadline o FTSE 250 made strong gains during the year and with sustained effort, will also meet the 2020 deadline
  • Last year’s challenge to “One & Done” boards is having an impact: there are 39 “this year, down from 74 with only 2 All-Male boards remaining

However, a step-change is needed for senior leadership roles below board level

50% of all appointments next year need to go to women, or the 2020 target will not be met.

The report  shows that women now hold 32.4% of all FTSE 100 board positions, up from 30.2% last year and up from only 12.5% in 2011. The FTSE 100 is very close to meeting the 33% target for Women on Boards and will do so ahead of the 2020 deadline.

The report also shows that women hold 29.6% of all FTSE 250 board positions, up from 24.9% last year and only 7.8% in 2011. The FTSE 250 has had its strongest year yet and if the same rate of progress continues next year, the FTSE 350 will be on track to meet the 33% target by the end of 2020 deadline.

Not all companies are making the same efforts, and the gap between those working hard to improve gender balance and those doing little, is each year more obvious.

Only two All-Male Boards remain

Following successful campaigning and pressure from investors in the year, “One & Done” boards have reduced from 74 to 39 this year. This includes 11 new entrants to the index but 28 companies feature for the second year running.  Only two All-Male boards remain, down from 5 this time last year and 152 in 2011.

Sir Philip Hampton, Chair of the Review said:

This is the penultimate Hampton-Alexander Report and we enter our final year with great momentum behind us, but we are still a long way from reaching the target for women in senior leadership roles below board level.

Denise Wilson, Chief Executive of the Review said:

There are over 900 women now serving on FTSE 350 boards, providing an ever-increasing pool of women with substantial board experience, yet only 25 women have been appointed into the Chair role, even fewer as women CEOs and showing little sign of change.

The very senior jobs were always going to be the hardest of challenges, however a stronger focus is now required at every stage of the appointment process to address the reasons why top jobs aren’t going to women”

Chris Cummings, Chief Executive of the Investment Association said:

Investors have been consistent in their demands for greater diversity. It’s not just a nice to have. The research is clear: firms with diverse boards and management teams make better decisions, drive innovation and outperform their less diverse peers.”

Melanie Richards, Deputy Chair at KPMG UK said:

Behind the numbers and trends are hundreds of individual stories. Women who have overcome barriers that they should not have had to overcome, with leaders and boards who have worked hard to remove those barriers for current and future generations.”

Carolyn Fairbairn, CBI director general, said:

If all male boards are to become a thing of the past, firms must not take their foot off the pedal.”

She added that firms were “making less progress on the executive pipeline”.

We are still seeing too few women in senior leadership positions, whether as chief executive or running divisions.”

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Workplace stress that is deemed as excessive, affects the mental health of 89% of UK employees

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One in every eight company employees in the UK has taken time off work for stress in the last year.

Conducted by the Dolan Contractor Group, experts in contractor payroll and accountancy, the Stress in the Workplace study gathered responses from employees of 140 companies across the UK. Respondents were asked about the causes of what was deemed ‘excessive workplace stress’, how they combat stress to maintain good mental health and what their employers do to support them through stress.

Long hours culture

The greatest cause of this stress in the UK workplace was found to be long working hours, with 41% of respondents to a study stating that they have been affected. Next most common is deadline or client pressure with 32%, followed by low pay and inability to build financial savings with 29%.

The study also identified differences in how stress is experienced between genders, and between employees of SMEs or large companies. Also revealed were crucial differences between the support available to permanent employees and that offered to employees hired on a contractor or freelance basis.

Tackling stress

When asked how they would deal with stress, 6% of permanent employee respondents stated that they would not seek help if they were suffering from excessive stress, opting to ‘hope it gets better’. This figure rose to 17% of contractors and freelancers surveyed.

When respondents were asked how they’d tackle stress, 30% of those at large companies stated that they would speak to their manager.

The majority of employees from large companies stated that long working hours (40%) caused them the most stress, followed by overwork and management pressure (36%).

Further findings from the study:

Female contractor workers are less likely to suffer from excessive stress due to long working hours when compared to female permanent workers. It is still predominantly women who take time off work, as the main carers for children within a family. They have to set their working hours around childcare, made possible by freelancing and contracting.

Contractors and freelancers were found to rely more heavily on their friends and families for support, with 26% stating this was their method to combat excessive stress.

Furthermore, 30% of contractor and freelancer workers have taken leave from work to combat excessive stress.

Lauren Monks, Group Operations Director at Dolan Contractor Group, states:

The Stress in the workplace study deepens our understanding of our contractors, freelancers and the self employed. It outlines the key areas that cause stress and so gives us and employers insight to help reduce stress in the workplace.

Stress is prevalent in all areas of work and across all industries regardless of the way you work- as a traditional employee or via your own limited company or umbrella employment, though contractors and freelancers are rarely mentioned in the conversation for stress in the workplace and mental wellbeing.

With the potential IR35 reforms looming, this adds a degree of uncertainty which we understand is unsettling and stressful for our clients. With 27% of contractors and freelancers stating that tax, red tape, and government changes contribute to excessive stress at work, we make sure that we offer IR35 contract reviews so our clients have the advice they need, plus we can offer them both umbrella employment as well as limited company accountancy. This takes the added stress of finding a new umbrella employer should the IR35 reforms affect them.”

Richard Holmes, Director of Wellbeing at Westfield Health, provides further comments on the study:

Burnout is a state of emotional, physical and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. Pressure at work is usually the main culprit and when budgets are tight and teams are small, people often find themselves with multiple roles and heavy workloads, piling on the stress.

Policies like flexible or remote working can help employees balance work and home life, and things like turning off email servers outside of working hours helps ring fence valuable recovery time. Mental health first aid training can also help managers spot the signs or triggers and put preventions in place.

Contractors or freelancers who don’t have the support of HR might need to adopt their own strategies such as setting working hours, turning off email alerts out of these hours and separating work and living space if working from home.”

Check out Calibre Furniture’s website has a wealth of information on this topic.

Public Affairs industry should take women as seriously as men

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public affairs report

Inaugural WiPA survey reveals there is still more to do.

Research published by Women in Public Affairs (WiPA) and Opinium Research reveals that the Public Affairs industry isn’t working for many women. WiPA is calling on the industry to do more.

1 in 4 (27%) women in the sector say they have experienced sexual harassment at work. The results found that nearly 1 in 3 women (30%) rated the industry as poor at protecting and helping women deal with sexual harassment, with only 4% rating the industry as good. This is unacceptable and needs to be tackled.

There is a myriad of areas the industry needs to make significant improvements on to promote an inclusive culture and help women succeed at work. Nearly two-thirds (60%) of women feel their company is not transparent about progression and pay, and nearly half (44%) believe their pay differs from their male counterparts in their company.

Results also show that over half of women (56%) feel uncomfortable asking about a company’s maternity policy in an interview. Furthermore, while 4 out of 5 women (80%) said they were allowed to work from home, a third (36%) of those only feel comfortable doing so in ‘exceptional circumstances’.

In response to the findings, WiPA is today launching a campaign to raise industry standards. The campaign will include roundtables with senior leaders to discuss the results and create deliverable actions. WiPA will also be adapting their offer to ensure events, training and resources are best tailored to members to support the progression of women in the industry.

WiPA Chair, Laura Sainsbury said:

This research should be shocking but sadly it isn’t. Our research has shown not only that the industry must do more to modernise and support women to reach the top – from advertising salary bands to normalising modern working trends such as flexible working – but it also needs to address other diversity issues such as race or socio-economic background. This is an urgent wake up call for our industry. We look forward to working with partners on our campaign to improve standards and will be announcing a series of roundtables over the next few months.

Opinium Chief Executive, James Endersby said:

While the Public Affairs industry ticks the boxes for women being offered more flexible working options and being interviewed by more gender-balanced panels, there is still a long way to go. With half of women in PA believing the industry is only average at supporting women’s progress, Public Affairs has an opportunity to address these issues, starting with better training and more transparency on pay, progression and maternity leave. The male cohort within Public Affairs can help – by supporting the 1 in 2 women who experience discrimination in the industry, and confronting sexual harassers, as still a quarter (27%) of women in PA admit to having experienced sexual harassment in the industry.

The survey received 263 responses from women working in the industry and the breakdown revealed a lack of diversity with 83% of respondents identified as White and 23% from a minority group.

The socio-economics also revealed that most women in the industry are based in London (78%) and that over half (55%) went to a comprehensive school, with 24% attending private school. Furthermore, 99% have an undergraduate degree, with 43% having higher than an undergraduate.

When asked about barriers in the industry and what needed to change, many women described a “laddish” culture or a persisting “old boy’s network”. One respondent said “it’s still a very ‘macho’ industry, which seems to require out of hours networking and ego”. There were also calls for “more profile to female leaders as role models” and “women to be taken as seriously as men” as well as changes to ways of working.

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