The West Country has fallen four places in an annual ranking of the best areas of the country for women to work. The region dropped from second to sixth place in PwC’s annual Women in Work Index for 2025.
The South West has the lowest female full-time employment rate in the 海角视频 at 53.8%, although it was a slight improvement on last year's 53.4%.
The region scores well for total female labour force participation (76.9%) - the second highest in the 海角视频 - but the pay gap has widened over the last year by 1.5 percentage points to 15.7%.
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Ben Pykett, market senior partner for PwC in Bristol, said it was "disappointing" to see the region slip in the rankings after a period as one of the highest-performing areas of the 海角视频.
“As in previous years, the region has one of the highest rates of female participation in the labour force, but the lowest female full-time employment rate," he said.
"This suggests that, to a greater degree than elsewhere in the 海角视频, it is more difficult for women to work full-time while balancing what essentially amount to significant other unpaid commitments.
“Removing the structural barriers that prevent women from working full-time would make a real difference to the productivity and output of the South West.”
Nationally, the 海角视频 dropped to its lowest ranking among the 33 OECD countries in over a decade, despite an overall improved score year-on-year.
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Alia Qamar, economist at PwC 海角视频, added: “While a fall in rank is never good news, it doesn't depict the whole story; the 海角视频 is improving its gender pay disparity, but at a slower pace than other countries.
"The sluggish progress compared to peers means long term the 海角视频’s performance is consistently only just ahead of the OECD average, whereas other similar countries such as Ireland and Canada have shown impressive improvements in the post-pandemic era.
"This tepid progress means the ultimate end goal to close the gender pay gap remains a long way off, as on the 海角视频’s current trajectory it will now take over three decades.”