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Recruitment News Continued

Opportunities for all

Inequality Costs us

Why does it matter that so few women make it to the top? Inequalities at the top make for a weaker nation, wasted talent and services that don’t give people what they need.

In a 2006 survey ‘Who Runs Wales’ conducted by the Equal Opportunities Commission, they asked the question ‘Who Runs..’

The question ‘Who Runs Universities’ produced the result that 100 percent of Vice-Chancellors are male.

The question ‘Who Runs the Police’ produced the result that 100 percent of Police Authority Chairs are male.

The Welsh Population

The population of Wales has increased, from 2.8 million to nearly 3 million, and has aged since the 1970s. There are now an extra 60,000 men and 40,000 women aged 65 or over.

There are 1.27 million households in Wales, including 690,000married or cohabiting couple families and 110,000 lone parent .Lone mothers head 89% of lone parent households.

The population also includes an estimated:

650,000 disabled people.
62,000 people from ethnic minorities.
44,000 belonging to a non-Christian religion

Disabled women and men each have lower employment rates than women and men who are not disabled: 43% of disabled men and 43% of disabled women work, compared with 82% of men and 76% of women who are not disabled.
Source: ONS (2005) Labour Force Survey Spring 2005 dataset.

In 2005, 44% of ethnic minority women and 49% of ethnic minority men aged 16 – 64 are in employment, compared with 65% of white women and 74% of white men.
Source: ONS (2005) Labour Force Survey Spring 2005 dataset.

A third of women and three-fifths of men belonging to non-Christian religions (Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and other religions) are in employment. This compares with employment rates of two-thirds for Christian women and three quarters for Christian men.
Source: ONS (2005) Labour Force Survey Spring 2005 dataset.

In 2005, average hourly earnings for women working full-time were £10.63, and for men were £12.08. This gave a full-time gender pay gap of 12.0%. Part-time women earned £8.31 on average, and comparing this figure with men’s average full-time earnings of £12.08 gives a part-time gender pay gap of 31.2%.
Source: ONS (2005) Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2005, revised December 2005.

Sources:
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2005) Population Trends Winter 2005;
National Assembly for Wales (NAW) (2006) 2003-based national and sub-national household projections for Wales;
NAW (2005) Living in Wales 2004 – Household structure.
ONS (2004) Census 2001 National report for England and Wales.