Now men lose out from gender divide: Women ‘ahead on health and job security’

Women are outstripping men in a dozen ways that mean their lives are often better, the state equality watchdog found yesterday.

It said women are more likely to be well educated, less likely to lose their jobs in the recession, and more likely to look after their health by visiting their GP or eating fruit and vegetables.

Men don’t live as long as women, are more likely to be overweight and are three times more likely to take their own lives, the report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission said. The advantages for women were listed in the Commission’s 700-page report on progress towards an equal society.

Healthy, happy and successful: Women are now outstripping men when it comes to the gender divide and are more likely to be well educated, less likely to lose their jobs in the recession and look after their health

The organisation, led by Trevor Phillips, listed groups of people who it said are losing out and for whom Mr Phillips said ‘the gateways to opportunity appear permanently closed’.



The report pointed to the gender pay gap which shows women generally earn less.

But, Mr Phillips said, other aspects of the equality audit show we have ‘moved light years in our attitudes to all kinds of human difference’.

The report, How Fair Is Britain?, shows that in a series of areas men can now be considered the disadvantaged sex.

They are more likely to be victims of crime than women, the report said. A high proportion of murder victims are men, and men are more likely to be assaulted than women.



It found that men are more likely to be killed in an accident at work: in 2009 only four women died in industrial accidents compared with 129 men.

The Commission added: ‘Girls outperform boys routinely in education at age five, at age 16 and at degree level throughout Britain.’

It said: ‘The recent recession has hit some groups harder than others. As in most countries, men have been more adversely affected than women.’

Only 15 per cent of male jobs are in the public sector – where pay and pensions are higher and jobs have so far been more secure – as opposed to 40 per cent of women’s jobs.



Disabled men are also far less likely to have work now than in the past, the report said.

The report said the pay gap between men and women continued to be a ‘pernicious earnings penalty’.



It added: ‘Women now do better than men in every aspect of educational qualification but the pay gap between men and women remains. After falling continuously for the past 30 years, progress seems to have halted.’

Man trouble: Men are more likely to be killed in an accident at work and more likely to commit suicide

The EHRC’s figures for the pay gap, however, are contentious, having long been higher than those from the Government’s Office for National Statistics, 16.4 per cent as opposed to 12.2 per cent.

The EHRC’s critics say young men and women are paid equally and the gap only arises because many women choose to ease off in their careers to care for their children.



The report also found that one in four women in their 50s now has caring responsibilities, often for a parent, and that they sacrifice income, job prospects and health.

Alongside its focus on the balance of wealth and power between men and women, the Commission said the gap between rich and poor should be narrowed, boys and some ethnic groups should do better in education, and that there is a growing need to deal with hate crime and bullying on the grounds of homosexuality or religion in schools and at work.

Mr Phillips said: ‘This review holds up the mirror to fairness in Britain. It shows that we are a people who have moved light years in our attitudes to all kinds of human difference, and in our desire to be a truly fair society, but that we are still a country where our achievements haven’t yet caught up with our aspirations.’

A snapshot of modern Britain

One in four Pakistani men in Britain works as a taxi driver or in similar jobs, the Commission’s report said. It added that Muslims have the lowest employment rates of any group, with under half of men and under a quarter of women in jobs.

However, almost half of Bangladeshi and Pakistani women stay at home to care for families, double the rate among other groups.

are Chinese girls. Poor Chinese girls – those who claim free school meals – do better than every other group except wealthier Chinese girls. The worst performers are poor white British boys and gipsy and traveller children.

Half of disabled adults have jobs, compared with four in five of the non-disabled.

The EHRC report also said there has been no count of gay and lesbian individuals in Britain.

But earlier this month the Office for National Statistics said that one in 100 people is gay.

The ONS also said gay people do better at work and earn more than the population at large – perhaps at odds with EHRC worries over unfair treatment of them at work.

