The “painfully” slow rate of change with financial equality has been brought into sharp focus today, as campaigners displayed an hourglass in the heart of the Square Mile.
A campaign was launched in the City to shed light on the gap between men and women in business, claiming it will take a staggering 169 years to close it – and it has to happen faster.
The hourglass was put into place by Female Invest, which is looking to bring about “financial equality” in our lifetime.
They said “in a world where money equals freedom, power and independence” it has a big impact on wider society. Progress is happening “painfully slowly”, the group said, and “women hold the key to accelerating the process”, citing a study from BCG which estimates that women’s wealth growth will outpace global wealth growth over the next several years.
The group also launched a crowdfunding campaign, which already has 4,000 investors who have pre-registered in two hours.
It has built the ‘world’s largest financial education platform’ for women, representing people in 125 countries. Female Invest has also led education about finance and investing since it was founded four years ago, helping more than half a million women and raising more than $12m (£9.5m) worldwide.
The hourglass is going down slowly, representing the slow progress of gender equality in the City
It has worked with leading female entrepreneurs such as Deborah Meaden and Sara Davies from Dragons’ Den and Emma Watson, who praised Female Invest as “the best source of financial knowledge out there”.
Female Invest founder Camilla Falkenberg said: “It’s time to treat financial gender inequality as an urgent issue,” while Emma Bitz added that the movement was “born from the shared frustration of women around the world.
“Now, we’re bringing our message to the very heart of London.
“Money equals freedom, power and independence. We want more women to have more of that”.
This comes as the number of female CEOs of FTSE 100 companies remains low. As of March, only four firms in London’s premier bluechip index had both chief executives and COOs who were women.
As of November last year, fewer than 10 per cent of CEOs at UK FTSE 350 companies were female. In February, it was reported 42 per cent of board members on FTSE 100 firms are women, but just 10 were in the top job.
According to recent ONS data on the gender pay gap, it has been declining slowly over time. Official data showed over the last decade it has fallen by approximately a quarter among full-time employees, and in April 2023 it stood at 7.7 per cent.
The ONS also said that the gender pay gap among higher earners was much larger at the time.
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said earlier in the year that she wants to close the gender pay gap “once and for all” if she becomes the UK’s first female Chancellor after the next general election.