Flexibility for all

THE UK’S gender pay gap is currently 19.2%. While there’s been an outcry about this on the grounds of equality, the loss to productivity it represents has been much less widely focused upon. My committee’s recent report on the gender pay gap found that women are better educated and better qualified than ever before, yet old-fashioned attitudes to work mean their skills and experience are not being put to use.

Research shows that the underutilisation of women’s skills costs the UK economy between 1.3% and 2% of GDP every year. Other estimates show that raising the level of women’s employment to the same as men’s could lift GDP by 10% by 2030, and eradicating the full-time gender pay gap would contribute additional spending.