Despite some progress on the gender pay gap in Jersey and low unemployment among women on both islands, the Channel Islands are falling behind economies such as Luxembourg, Ireland, New Zealand and the UK on workforce parity.
So says PwC Channel Islands' latest analysis of female economic empowerment – its Channel Islands Women in Work Index 2023.
The analysis claims that a GDP boost of 2% in Jersey (equating to £77m) and 6% in Guernsey (equating to £194m) could be achieved by matching the female labour force participation rate to that of fifth positioned Sweden.
Pay gap ranking
Jersey’s gender pay gap, at 11%, is better than the OECD average of 14%, but Guernsey’s is 16%, which makes it one of the highest gender pay gaps in the Index.
Closing the gender pay gap in Jersey would generate a boost to female earnings of 12% or £187m, and in Guernsey the female earnings boost would be as high as 18% or £159m, argues the report.
Globally, PwC produces an annual Women in Work Index that gauges gender equality in OECD countries across a range of measures, including female employment rates and how their pay and participation in the economy compares with men.
PwC’s research team used the same criteria to assess how Jersey and Guernsey would perform if included in the Index rankings, based on comparable data.
Those findings show that Jersey ranks the equivalent of 15th place in the PwC Women in Work Index of the 33 OECD countries, with Guernsey in 16th place.
Luxembourg tops the Index, followed by New Zealand and Slovenia. The UK is positioned in 14th place.
• To view the report click here