In the past five years, the number of female senior managers working at major British businesses has slumped dramatically, according to a new report.
Leading auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) reports that 40 per cent fewer women now hold senior management positions, compared to 2002.
In that year, 38 per cent of senior managers at FTSE 350 companies were women. By the beginning of this year, that proportion had fallen to 22 per cent.
Though the number of female chairmen and chief executives has grown, along with the proportion of women occupying other positions at the very top, the statistics undermine attempts by leading companies to introduce staff retention policies and flexible working practices.
A recent Daycare Trust study indicates that childcare costs have risen by 27 per cent in the period from 2002 to 2007, perhaps explaining why more women are forced to relinquish their management roles and look after young children.
Separate data from the Labour Force Survey indicates that a growing number of female entrepreneurs are starting their own businesses. Over a million women in the UK are now self-employed, recent figures show.
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