Thursday 27th December 2012 | 17:36

GMB: Women make up half or more of employees resident in 210 out of 374 areas in England, Wales and Northern Ireland

GMB press release

In 210 out of 374 areas in England, Wales and Northern Ireland region women in employment make up half or more of all workers in employment resident in the area according to the 2011 Census of Population.

In England and Wales the total number of employees in employment amounts to 21.5 million. About half of that i.e. 10.74 million are men and 10.72 million are women. See Note 2 below. These figures are for all employees in employment including full time and part time.

Northern Ireland has the highest proportion of women in employment of any region in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.  In Northern Ireland the total number of employees in employment is 639,943. Of these 332,967 are women in employment. That is 52% of the total employees in employment in the region which means that the number of women in employment outnumber the 306.976 men in employment.

After Northern Ireland the region with the next highest proportion of women in employment is Wales at 50.6%, followed by North West at 50.5%, North East at 50.5%, South West at 50.1%, South East at 49.9%, Yorkshire and the Humber at 49.8%, London at 49.8%, Eastern at 49.7%, West Midlands at 49.7% and East Midlands at 49.6%. The figures for these 11 regions in the UK are set out in the table below. No data has yet been published for Scotland.

There are 41 areas where women in employment are 52% or more of all employees in employment resident in these areas. The area with the highest proportion of women in employment resident in the area is Down at 54.0%, followed by Knowsley, Moyle and Ards at 53.4%, Limavady and Omagh at 53.3%, Newry and Mourne at 53.0%, Sefton at 52.9%, Conwy, Epping Forest and Torbay at 52.8%, Thanet, Ballymoney and Powys at 52.7%, Rother, Broxbourne, Hastings and Fermanagh at 52.6%, Castlereagh, Derry and Wyre at 52.5%,Craven at 52.4%, Denbighshire, Armagh and  Isle of Wight at 52.3%, West Somerset, Ceredigion, Torridge, Bexley, West Devon and Banbridge at 52.2%, Eastbourne, Blackpool, Bromley, Teignbridge, Adur and South Hams at 52.1%, and Strabane, Arun, Bromsgrove and Sutton at 52.0% The figures for these 41 areas are in notes to editors below.

This information is drawn from a new analysis by GMB of the data from the 2011 Census of Population released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) earlier in December 2012. See Notes to Editors for sources and definitions. The figures for all 374 areas are set out as a pdf at the foot of this release on the GMB website http://www.gmb.org.uk/ . 

EMPLOYEES IN EMPLOYMENT IN 11 UK REGIONS – usual residents aged 16-74

	Employees in Employment: ALL	Employees in Employment: MALE	Employees in Employment: FEMALE	FEMALE %
England & Wales	21,462,202	10,737,806	10,724,396	50.0
England	20,349,832	10,188,133	10,161,699	49.9
Northern Ireland	639,943	306,976	332,967	52.0
Wales	1,112,370	549,673	562,697	50.6
North West	2,665,979	1,318,412	1,347,567	50.5
North East	980,163	485,416	494,747	50.5
South West	2,026,895	1,011,367	1,015,528	50.1
South East	3,403,761	1,706,003	1,697,758	49.9
Yorkshire and The Humber	1,999,954	1,003,878	996,076	49.8
London	3,104,310	1,559,124	1,545,186	49.8
Eastern	2,303,318	1,157,807	1,145,511	49.7
West Midlands	2,091,598	1,051,973	1,039,625	49.7
East Midlands	1,773,854	894,153	879,701	49.6

 

Paul Kenny, GMB General Secretary, said, “These figures show that for workers resident in most areas in England, Wales and Northern Ireland there are more women in employment than there are men in employment.  That means that equal pay for women is not just an issue of fairness but is something that directly impacts on the economic prosperity of many areas.

Politicians should no longer think of men as the breadwinner. They should consider the impact on women's wage packets and their experiences at work when they propose changes to employment policies.

Employers need to acknowledge the fundamental importance of flexible working and family friendly policies as women still continue to take on the burden of domestic work and childcare.”