The gender gap continues to widen globally

Britain falls to 26th in Global Gender Gap Report rankings, recording its lowest overall score for equality since 2008

The UK has slipped out of the top 20 countries for gender equality and the gap between men and women in the workplace has widened, according to a report that places Britain behind the Scandinavian countries and the Philippines.

Research by the World Economic Forum (WEF) – the body behind the high-powered annual Davos summit – found the UK has slipped from 18th to 26th in the rankings of its Global Gender Gap Report, part of a steady decline from the forum’s inaugural league table in 2006, when the UK was ranked ninth. The UK also recorded its lowest overall score since 2008.

As in 2012 and 2013, the list was dominated by northern Europe and the top four countries remained unchanged, with Iceland first, Finland second, Norway third and Sweden fourth. However, the index, which measures equality gaps in countries rather than overall levels, also rated a number of middle-income and developing countries above the UK, including Nicaragua (sixth), Rwanda (seventh) and the Philippines (ninth).

While the UK failed to make the top 20 in any of the report’s four categories – economy, education, health and politics – the drop in its overall rating this year was chiefly attributable to a significantly lower score in “economic participation”, which measures attributes such as the ratios of women in the workforce, wage equality for similar work done by men, and the number of women in senior roles.

The WEF added: “[In the economic participation subsets the UK] appears to remain some way off, with the country ranking 48th in terms of both labour force participation and wage equality and 66th for estimated earned income.

“Unlike many of its peers, it has still yet to close its educational attainment and health and survival gaps (ranking 32 and 94 respectively), while it does moderately better in the fourth area we measure, political empowerment, where it ranks 33rd.”

Critics of the varied campaigns for gender equality can point to the UK’s faster economic recovery when compared with most other developed economies. However, Ann Francke, the chief executive of the trade body the Chartered Management Institute, said a UK economy where women benefited less than men was “unsustainable”.

Francke, whose organisation also produces annual research on the UK’s gender pay gap, added: “The issue in the UK is that while there are more women in the workplace they tend to be in the lower-level positions. The pay gaps continue to be alarmingly large for men and women doing the same senior role.” Meanwhile, other observers said the UK could be slipping down the list because of the way in which it structures childcare and paternity leave.