The Gender Equality Index UK

How equal are women and men in the United Kingdom? It depends on where you live. National statistics suggest steady progress, but they hide significant local variation. The Gender Equality Index UK (GEIUK; genderequalityindex.uk) was built to address this gap, capturing women's and men's outcomes across 372 local authorities in six domains of everyday life: Paid Work, Unpaid Work, Money, Education, Health, and Power.

This presentation details how the GEIUK was developed and the data challenges encountered. The results show that some areas exhibit gender equality because outcomes are good for everyone, while others achieve it only because both women and men are falling behind — two situations calling for markedly different policy responses. It discusses what these findings mean for regional development and explores what an equivalent tool for Switzerland could reveal about gender equality across cantons.

Dr Caitlin Schmid is an SNF Postdoc.Mobility Fellow based at King's College London, where she developed the Gender Equality Index UK. Her research focuses on measuring and mapping gender inequalities at the local level, with ongoing projects in the UK, Japan, Australia, and Switzerland.