Female employment in Scotland second highest in Europe

Scotland is one of Europe’s leaders in female employment, according to Eurostat.

The figures from January to March of 2015 show Scotland’s female employment rate at 71.1 per cent, second only to Sweden at 72.4 per cent and four places above the rest of the UK.

The statistics also show Scotland as the country with the second lowest female unemployment rate (5.2 per cent), behind only Germany.

RELATED CONTENT

Fifth of Labour MPs rebel against party line as Welfare Reform Bill passes second reading

SNP accuses Government of refusing to act on energy prices

Minister for Youth and Women’s Employment Annabelle Ewing said: “Our improvements across women’s employment, unemployment, activity rates and closing the gender gap have been steady and consistent”.

“Scotland continues to be a better place to be a working woman than elsewhere in the UK and these latest figures confirm that we are performing better than the majority of the 28 EU countries”.

A 2015 Scottish Government report found that women are more likely to be employed in lower skilled jobs, paid less, and are more likely to be underemployed than men.

It showed that although female educational attainment is consistently better, 57 per cent of all women in employment are employed in medium-low or low skilled occupations compared with only 37 per cent of men.

Ewing said: “We have made real progress on breaking down the traditional barriers that we inherited, but calling out and condemning inequality in the workplace in all its forms needs to continue until the playing field is truly equal and your gender or background is irrelevant because you are judged on your abilities and potential.”