The pie charts illustrate the distribution of employment among men and women in the UK in 1988 and 2012, with figures given in thousands.
Overall, full-time employment accounted for the largest proportion of the workforce in both years, with men consistently making up the biggest share. However, the gap between male and female full-time employment narrowed considerably over the period. In addition, total employment increased, despite some relatively minor changes in the proportions of part-time workers.Looking first at full-time employment, men made up the majority of workers in both years, although the difference between the two genders became less pronounced over time. In 1988, 53% of the workforce were men working full-time, amounting to 12,539 thousand people, whereas the corresponding figure for women was considerably lower, at 19% (4,482 thousand). In other words, there were almost three times as many male as female full-time workers. By 2012, the proportion of men had dropped slightly to 47%, despite their number increasing to 13,794 thousand. Female full-time employment, by contrast, saw a more substantial increase, with its share rising to 26% and the number of workers reaching 7,696 thousand. As a result, the gender gap in full-time employment narrowed considerably, from 34 percentage points in 1988 to 21 points in 2012.
Part-time employment showed the opposite gender pattern, with women consistently accounting for a much larger proportion than men. In 1988, 22% of all workers were women employed part-time, compared with only 6% for men. This means that the number of female part-time workers, at 5,268 thousand, was more than three times that of their male counterparts, at 1,550 thousand. Over the following 24 years, female part-time employment increased slightly in absolute terms, reaching 5,979 thousand, although its share fell marginally from 22% to 20%. Male part-time employment also grew, both in terms of the number of workers and its proportion, rising from 1,550 to 2,131 thousand and from 6% to 7%, respectively. Despite these changes, women continued to dominate part-time employment in 2012, accounting for nearly three times the proportion of men.