The Economist recently published an article called ‘What’s holding women back?’ they draw upon the research from the Pew Research Centre that shows that there has been some progress made in perception of women being seen as just as capable as men in leadership roles. Although it also seems that it is not rising in terms of positions within the US congress, UK government or blue chip companies. The Economist then explores in further detail on what is holding women back from a social and corporate behaviour standpoint.
Last year in celebration of International Womens Day 2014, The Economist published a “glass-ceiling index” on the best and worst places to be a working woman.
Scores were attributed to key topics such as:
- Paid Maternity,
- Child-Care Costs,
- Women in Parliament,
- Women on Boards
- and the Gap in Wages.
The UK’s scoring in various indexes quite lowly in comparison with other European countries such as Sweden and Finland. Yet even there, women are paid less than men for similar work. In Finland and Sweden the gap is close to the OECD average of 15%. It also validates that with the Nordic countries being among the first countries to allow women to vote.
However there is still further analysis on The return of the stay-at-home mother which shows that there has been a shift in more mothers not returning to work after childbirth due to high child-care costs or having stowed away enough bonuses and funds during their tenures of holding senior positions in the City.
The Economist has a wealth of resources and statistics to help any woman looking to justify her position, her opinions and to aid her in challenging the status quo.
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