‘Allow women to play a leading role in shaping the future’: Why the UK’s green recovery must level up gender inequalities
Report from PwC warns business and government must embed gender equality into their green growth plans, noting that current levels of understanding about green jobs remains limited among women
The vast majority of women are both less aware of and feel more underqualified for ‘green’ job opportunities compared to men, underscoring the need for both the government and businesess to work far more proactively to prevent existing gender inequalities from taking root across the UK’s rapidly expanding green economy.
That is the warning voiced today by PwC, which has released research this morning revealing stark differences in the ways in which men and women view the burgeoning green jobs market.
The research underscores how the pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on women, both exposing and exacerbating existing gender equalities within the labour market, the consultancy giant said. And, unless government and business build gender equality into their green recovery plans, it warned that women risk being “left behind” as the clean technology, green energy, net zero transport, and energy efficiency markets expand to deliver on the UK’s climate goals.
As a result, PwC said the government should not only lead by example as an employer by promoting gender-balanced workforce policies in the public sector, but it must also work closely with the private sector to ensure that gender equality is treated as a priority within its mission to “level up” regional inequalities on the path to net zero.
“As we look to the future, we must take the opportunity to address these inequalities and this should be front of mind when planning the recovery,” said Rachel Taylor, economic and business affairs leader at PwC. “With the continuing momentum of the green revolution and the resulting emergence of new industries, policy-makers and businesses must work side-by-side in bringing about a level playing field which will allow women to play a leading role in shaping the future.”
PwC’s research, which was based on a survey of 4,000 UK adults, found women felt less equipped to take on a ‘green’ job than their male counterparts, with just 20 per cent of female respondents reporting they thought they had the relevant skills, compared to 31 per cent of men.
Women also had a lower level of understanding about the green jobs market, with just 21 per cent of women claiming they were aware of the opportunities offered by green jobs, compared to 32 per cent of men.
Moreover, the study found that women were more likely than men to report that the pandemic had hurt their career prospects, with one in four unemployed women reporting that Covid-19 crisis had worsened their access to employment opportunities, compared to 23 per cent of unemployed men. Women were also more likely to report that their mental and physical wellbeing had worsened during the pandemic.
Taylor said research showed the pandemic had “exposed and exacerbated” deep-rooted gender inequalities in the labour market. “This research points to a lack of confidence among women who find themselves out of work, and comparatively fewer opportunities for young women starting out on their careers,” she said. “This is compounded by the physical and mental health burden faced by many of the women surveyed.”
The Government Equalities Office unit within the Cabinet Office was considering a request for comment at the time of going to press.
But PwC said that, as well as making gender equality a key priority of its green growth agenda, the government should consider using legislative measures to tackle the inequalities in the labour market, such as introducing more affordable childcare and shared parental leave, and targeted careers support for women to access male-dominated industries.
It also called on the government to invest in careers advice services that help young people make informed choices, and for increased investment in return-to-work programmes that deliver technical reskilling and training and help build unemployed women’s confidence. Separate analysis has demonstrated public support for measures that could boost women’s participation in the green economy, ranging from better careers support, improvements to parental leave and flexible working, and a greater focus on mental health and wellbeing, PwC said.
Dan Burke, government and health industries partner at PwC, said the government had no chance of delivering on its ‘levelling up’ agenda “if half of the population is at a disadvantage from the outset, regardless of where they live”.
“The pandemic has accelerated what were already rapid changes in the world of work but this revolution should be of benefit to everyone,” he explained. “It’s crucial, therefore, that gender equality is placed at the heart of the green and fair recovery plans and this will mean further interventions from both employers and policy-makers.”
The somewhat arresting conclusions of PwC study follow a separate report just last week by US non-profit Diversity in Sustainability, which – looking specifically at the sustainability sector – also highlighted stark inequalities within the profession. The sustainability sector, it warned, continues to be “an elite and privileged” profession that remains inaccessible to some groups in society.
Its conclusions were based on a survey of 1,500 individuals as well as interviews with 30 sustainability professionals from the UK, US, and Canada, which found the sector tended to attract people from middle-class backgrounds, largely because it requires a pre-existing level of financial security and a high level of education attainment. Just 27 per cent of all respondents reported that the leadership team at their organisation was diverse, the non-profit said.
The report also warned that the sustainability sector needed to take “considered approaches to succession planning and inclusion”. While the research found the talent pool became much more diverse among younger professionals, it explained that this did not necessarily mean that sustainability leaders would not inevitably become more diverse over time, stressing the need for action to avoid a drop-off in retention.
“Given the fractured state of the world with climate change, inequality and environmental degradation, the number of people focusing on sustainability will only increase,” the report states. “While organisations are making strides and trying to close the gap in equity, diversity and inclusion, it is clear that significant improvements are needed to ensure that the views of society – particularly the most vulnerable voices – are truly reflected. We must remember that there are adverse consequences of not being inclusive.”
As both reports demonstrate, the economic recovery from the global pandemic offers a major opportunity for business and government to establish a new green economy that is less inhibited by systemic inequalities than today’s jobs market. Moreover, increasing female participation in the green economy is not just a question of fairness, but it is an economic proposition – PwC’s latest Women in Work index estimates that increasing the proportion of women in work could deliver a £48bn boost to the UK economy. Improving female recruitment should also have a critical role to play in tackling the looming and well-documented skills shortages faced by many of the industries that are critical to the net zero transition. But in order to secure the benefits of a more diverse and equal economy and avoid holding back the net zero transition, efforts to attract and retain more women in to the green economy must be a key plank of the government’s – and the private sector’s – green growth strategy.
