UK regains top‑ranking G7 position in PwC’s Women in Work Index, but rising female unemployment holds back progress

• The UK climbs one place in the Index, but underlying progress has stalled, held back by rising female unemployment and a fall in full‑time work
• Reducing young female NEET rates to 3.6% could add up to £11 billion to UK GDP 
• Low GCSE attainment significantly increases the risk of young women becoming NEET, with the likelihood rising to 25 percent for this group.

The UK has risen one place to 17th in PwC’s Women in Work Index 2026, regaining its position as the top‑ranking G7 country for women’s economic empowerment, though improvement stems largely from other countries slipping behind. 

PwC’s 2026 Index, now in its 15th year, tracks the progress of women in the workplace across 33 OECD countries using five indicators covering pay, participation, unemployment and full‑time employment for women. It shows that progress across the OECD has slowed to its weakest level since the pandemic, driven by a historic fall in full‑time employment for women and rising unemployment rates. The UK’s performance is held back by rising female unemployment and falling full‑time work.

The UK’s Index performance in-depth 

Although the UK’s overall Index score increased marginally (+0.16 points), the climb in the rankings was mostly due to declines in other countries’ performance. If the UK’s improvement had matched Australia’s since 2020, it would have placed fourth in the Index rankings rather than 17th. The Women in Work Index assesses multiple indicators that make up the rankings. A deep dive into the UK’s performance against these indicators reveals that:  

• Female unemployment increase: Female unemployment rose from 3.5% to 4.2%, making it the biggest driver of the UK’s static performance this year. This increase reflects wider labour market pressures and marks a reversal of previous gains. Youth female unemployment also increased from 9.5% to 11.8%, highlighting growing pressures in the early‑career labour market and raising concerns about long‑term progression for young women. Supplementary PwC analysis of NEET levels finds that young women with poor GCSE results have a 1 in 4 likelihood of being NEET, compared to 1 in 5 for young men with similar attainment.
• Narrow improvement in female labour force participation: The UK’s female participation rate edged up from 74.8% to 75.0%, remaining above the OECD average of 73.1%. However, the modest increase suggests limited improvement in women’s overall engagement with the workforce. The gap between male and female participation narrowed from 7.8% to 6.4%, largely driven by rising male economic inactivity rather than meaningful gains in women’s participation.
• Gender pay gap remains worse than OECD average: The UK’s gender pay gap narrowed slightly, falling from 13.3% to 13.1%. Northern Ireland is the only region were the gender pay gap has widened since 2020. Progress continues to lag behind the OECD average of 12.4%, indicating slower movement toward pay equality compared to peer economies.
• Decline in female full‑time employment rate: The full‑time employment rate for women fell by 1.2 percentage points to 67.7%. While this reflects a broader OECD shift toward part‑time work, it also highlights the combined impact of limited access to secure full‑time roles and the reduced take‑up of full‑time work. High childcare costs, limited affordable wraparound care, and long working hours make full‑time employment less feasible for many women.

NEET levels among young women

PwC’s latest analysis shows the UK could unlock major economic gains by reducing the number of young women who are not in education, employment or training (NEET).  Germany and the Netherlands have some of the lowest NEET rates in Europe. Bringing female NEET rates in line with Germany could add £5 billion to UK GDP, while matching the Netherlands could deliver up to £11 billion. Even returning to the UK’s 2021 low would generate a further £3 billion.

The report examines why nearly 946,000 16‑to 24‑year‑olds - almost one in eight - are now NEET, up from 11.9% to 13.6% since the pandemic.

In the UK, low GCSE attainment significantly increases NEET risk for young women, and the impact is more pronounced than it is for young men (24.5% vs 19.4%) . This reflects deep‑rooted gendered patterns in the labour market: boys with low qualifications are more likely to move into better‑paid, male‑dominated sectors, such as construction that have accessible routes into work, while girls often face far fewer comparable opportunities. 

Health conditions remain a key driver affecting 20.0% of young women, compared with 23.6% of young men, with mental health pressures rising across both groups. 

When low attainment coincides with a health condition, young women become almost four times more likely to be NEET than the average young woman, (48% compared with 12%). Taken together, these findings highlight both the scale of the challenge and the size of the opportunity. Intervening earlier, addressing education, health and the career pathways girls are encouraged to consider, will be critical to improving outcomes for young women and unlocking economic gains for the UK.

Carol Stubbings, UK and EMEA Managing Partner at PwC, said:

“While the UK has regained its position as the highest‑ranking G7 economy for women in work, the story beneath the headline is more complex. Rising female unemployment, especially among young women, points to underlying weaknesses in our labour market at a time when AI is reshaping the economy and the skills needed.

“The countries that succeed will be those that invest in strong foundations in education and continued skills development. Employers have a crucial role in creating clear pathways into work and helping their people continue to learn and adapt. Reducing the number of young women who are NEET is not only a social imperative – it is an economic one, with billions in potential GDP at stake.”

Alia Qamar, Senior Economist at PwC UK, said:

“This year’s Index shows both the scale of progress since 2011 and how fragile that progress has become. The rise in young women becoming NEET, often driven by the intersection of health and educational barriers, mirrors wider pressures on women’s employment across the OECD. Crucially, the analysis shows these risks don’t just add up, they compound. Young women who leave school with low GCSE grades and also have a health condition face a far steeper challenge. This combined effect shows that the roots of inequality begin long before young women reach the jobs market, and why early support in school is so critical. 

“Countries performing better than the UK demonstrate what’s achievable and how closing that gap would deliver meaningful gains. Regional disparities remain stark, with London continuing to lag, underscoring how structural pressures shape women’s outcomes and why targeted action is so critical.”

ENDS

Notes to editor

UK regional disparities

This year saw a significant reshuffle in regional performance. The South West rose five places to rank first, driven by a significant fall in its participation rate gap (8% to 4.9%), the highest female participation rate in the UK (79%), and a reduction in the gender pay gap (16% to 14%).

London fell one place to 12th, continuing a downward trend since 2022. The region recorded the highest female unemployment rate (5.2%), the largest participation rate gap (9.3%), and one of the biggest increases in the gender pay gap. Despite this, London remains the best‑performing region for full‑time female employment.

In Northern Ireland, the gender pay gap has increased every year since 2020, rising from 7.5% to 7.9% this year, driven by a higher share of part‑time roles for women and longer working hours for men.

Regional inequalities narrowed overall, with the gap between the best and worst performers closing by 7.5 points. The East Midlands delivered the strongest improvement nationwide, increasing its Index score by 8.1 points.

 
About the data

1. The international Index rankings are based on 2024 data, due to a lag in availability of annual data across all indicators and countries in the Index. This is the latest annual data available at the time of publication. 

1. The PwC Women in Work Index began in 2011 and tracks the progress of women in the workplace across the 33 OECD countries using a combination of indicators to gain a holistic view of labour market performance for women. The five indicators that make up the Women in Work Index are: the gender pay gap, the female labour force participation rate, the gap between male and female labour force participation rates, the female unemployment rate, and the female full-time employment rate.