Working Lives
Men managers twice as likely as women
Economic activity rates: by age, 2003, UK
A greater proportion of men than women of working age are in employment or actively looking for, and available to start, work. In spring 2003 the economic activity rate was 84 per cent for men, compared with 73 per cent for women in the UK. However, the rates for men have fallen over the past decade while the rates for women have risen.
Economic activity was highest for men aged 25 to 34 at 93 per cent, while for women it was highest for 35 to 49 year olds at 78 per cent. For women, the presence of a dependent child has a substantial impact on economic activity – see related link 'Work and Family' for more information.
Twenty years ago one in three employee jobs held by men were in manufacturing. By June 2003 this had fallen to under one in five. The proportion of jobs held by women in this sector dropped from nearly one in five to less than one in ten. In contrast, there was a substantial rise in jobs in the finance and business services industry for both men and women.
Other changes in the labour force over the last two decades include a marked increase in the number of employee jobs performed by women. In 1983 men filled 2.5 million more jobs than women. In June 2003 the numbers were almost equal with men performing 13.0 million jobs and women 12.8 million, although almost half of the female jobs were part time.
But men and women still follow very different career paths. About a quarter of female employees do administrative or secretarial work. Men are twice as likely as women to be managers and senior officials, and far more likely to be in skilled trades. Similar proportions of men and women work in ‘associate professional and technical’ occupations, such as computer programmers, technicians and nurses.
Employees: by occupation, 2003, UK
Men are more likely than women to be self-employed. Nearly three quarters of the 3 million self-employed people in spring 2003 were male.
Sources: Labour Force Survey, spring 2003, Office for National Statistics; Labour Market Trends, November 2003, Office for National Statistics
Notes: Economic activity rate – the percentage of the population in a given age group which is in work or actively looking for, and available to start, work. Data are at spring and seasonally adjusted.
Data for employees by occupation are at spring and are not seasonally adjusted.
Working age is men aged 16 to 64 and women aged 16 to 59.
printer-friendly
Latest: Focus on Gender