This International Women’s Day we’re sharing important new data that shows how far the UK needs to go to level the playing field for women in the workplace – and calling on our Government to #AccelerateAction on parental leave reform to help get us there.
Bad news for International Women’s Day: the UK is stalling in its progress towards a level playing field for women in the workplace.
The PwC Women in Work Index has been tracking key gender diversity indicators in OECD countries since 2011. The 2025 index, published this month, places the UK 18th out of 33 countries: a fall of one place. Here are the latest key statistics:
The UK’s gender pay gap has been narrowing, but at 13.3% it’s still higher than the OECD average (13.1%)
The proportion of UK women in paid work has been increasing, and at 74.8% is higher than the OECD average (72.7%)
But only 68.9% of UK women in the paid workforce work full-time – compared to an OECD average of 78.1%
And the gap between male and female workforce participation is highest in the 25-34 and 35-44 age groups – 8.2% and 10.8% respectively – the periods where the ‘motherhood penalty’ kicks in
If the UK were to close the gap between male and female workforce participation over the next 20 years (by 2045), PwC estimates that we could increase our GDP by £4.7 billion per year. If we did it in five years (by 2030) that annual boost would rise to £6.2 billion.
Why mums (want to) go to Iceland
It will come as no surprise to discover that it’s Nordic countries who tend to shine brightest in the PwC index.
Iceland – consistently in the top five – takes the 2025 top spot, scoring especially highly on female workforce participation. The country spends 1.7% of its GDP on early childhood education, compared to an average of 0.8% for the OECD, and 0.5% in the UK.
But its parenting leave policy has a part to play too – the country gives each parent an individual right to six months’ leave (six weeks of which can be transferred to the other parent), and pays this at 80% of their average earnings. Unsurprisingly, 95% of mothers and 78% of fathers take the leave, with fathers taking 60% as much time as mothers.
The ‘daddy leave’ factor
The UK scores particularly badly on women’s participation in full-time paid work in the PwC index. Could our statutory paternity offer, which is one of the least generous in the OECD, be a factor in this?
Well it’s clear that other countries are investing in better support for dads, as well as early education and childcare, to help bring more women into paid work, and more of them working full-time.
The top ten countries in the PwC index give fathers an average of 10.2 weeks of reserved leave in their baby’s first year, at full pay equivalent, while UK dads get just 0.4 weeks (see table 1 below).
Read our recent evidence to the Women and Equalities Committee inquiry on paternity and shared parental leave, for more detail on how the UK’s statutory paternity offer compares internationally, and what alternative models exist.
Costing the benefits
Forthcoming research by the Centre for Progressive Policy (CPP) and Joseph Rowntree Foundation is set to show that extending the statutory paternity offer to 6 weeks (as set out in the Fatherhood Institute’s campaign) could deliver £2.68 billion to the wider economy.
These gains would be driven by more mothers entering the workforce and working more hours, because couples are better able to share care.
But crucially, they also wouldn’t be the only benefits – a better statutory paternity offer could also improve:
Child educational outcomes [note 1]
Child cognitive development [note 2]
Father-child relationship quality [note 3]
Wellbeing for both parents [note 4]
Not to mention reducing separation and divorce [note 5] and supporting changes in gender norms, including among grandparents [note 6].
We’re working hard to estimate the value such benefits would bring, to feed into the Government’s parental leave review, expected later this year.
The future is calling…it’s time to listen.
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Table 1. Statutory paternity offers in the most gender-equal countries
Top 10 countries in Women in Work Index 2025 | Number of FTE weeks of earmarked leave for fathers at full pay* |
1: Iceland | 13.8 |
2: New Zealand | 0 |
3: Luxembourg | 20 |
4: Sweden | 10.8 |
5: Slovenia | 10.5 |
6: Ireland | 2 |
7: Poland | 8.3 |
8: Portugal | 12.5 |
9: Norway | 13.8 |
10: Finland | 10.5 |
Average for top 10 countries | 10.2 |
18: UK | 0.4 |
*see the full table of OECD statutory paternity offers here
References
[Note 1]: For example, in Sweden introduction of a ‘daddy month’ increased the probability of girls’ doing a maths-intensive programme in upper secondary education. See Mikkelsen, S., & Peter, N. (2024). More dads at home, more girls in maths-intensive studies? Evidence from a parental leave reform. Economica
[Note 2]: Huerta, M. C., Adema, W., Baxter, J., Han, W.-J., & Waldfogel, J. (2013). Fathers' Leave, Fathers' Involvement and Child Development: Are They Related? Evidence from Four OECD Countries
[Note 3]: Communication, closeness, involvement. See Petts, R. J., Knoester, C., & Waldfogel, J. (2020). Fathers' Paternity Leave-Taking and Children's Perceptions of Father-Child Relationships in the United States. Sex Roles, 82(3-4), 173-188
[Note 4]: Korsgren, P., & Lent, M. v. (2022). Earmarked Paternity Leave and Well-Being; Lidbeck, M., Bernhardsson, S., & Tjus, T. (2018). Division of parental leave and perceived parenting stress among mothers and fathers. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 36(4), 406-420
[Note 5]: Arnalds, Á. A., Eydal, G. B., & Gíslason, I. V. (2022). "Paid Parental Leave in Iceland: Increasing Gender Equality at Home and on the Labour Market" in C. de la Porte, G. B. Eydal, J. Kauko, D. Nohrstedt, P. t Hart, & B. S. Tranøy (Eds.), Successful Public Policy in the Nordic Countries: Cases, Lessons, Challenges Oxford: Oxford University Press; Olafsson, A., & Steingrimsdottir, H. (2020). How Does Daddy at Home Affect Marital Stability? The Economic Journal, 130(629), 1471-1500
[Note 6]: For example, in Germany, following the introduction of reserved leave for fathers, grandparents' attitudes were found to be considerably less sexist than before this policy change. See Unterhofer, U., & Wrohlich, K. (2017). Fathers, Parental Leave and gender norms