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The South West of England, followed by Northern Ireland and Wales, is the best place for empowering the economic potential of women in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ.

The latest Women in Work index, from professional advisory firm PwC, assessed a number of factors including the gap between female and male employment levels, pay and unemployment rates.

London is ranked bottom of the index in 12th position

Women in Work Index rank	º£½ÇÊÓƵ nation/region
1	South West
2	Northern Ireland
3	Wales
4	Scotland
5	South East
6	East
7	North West
8	North East
9	East Midlands
10	Yorkshire & Humber
11	West Midlands
12	London

Felicity Rees, PwC senior partner for the West of England and Wales, said: “Getting more women into the workforce and reducing the pay gap are priorities for the º£½ÇÊÓƵ Government - and the economic benefits for doing so are huge. So it’s fantastic to see the South West and Wales performing so strongly in an area that receives ever-more attention from society as a whole.

“Previous studies we have carried out in this area provides evidence for why Wales, along with the South West, have performed strongly.

"Both have large hospitality sectors and a high concentration of public sector jobs, and both of these tend to have more balanced gender representation at all levels and hence smaller pay gaps.”

However, the research reveals the º£½ÇÊÓƵ is being outpaced by greater improvements in female employment prospects across 32 other OECD countries.

Although the º£½ÇÊÓƵ performed above the OECD average and is second only to Canada when compared to other G7 economies, its current position (16th) has barely budged since 2000 when it stood at 17th position, despite improving its performance across all five indicators.