UK is behind in its empowerment of women

Having visited Australia, New Zealand and the US during the summer I've come back rather frustrated about how far behind the UK is in acknowledging and understanding that it isn't going to flourish as a country if it doesn't start realising that half its population matter just as much as the male half. During the last 13 years of living in the UK I've noticed some improvement but now having witnessed how much New Zealand has caught up since leaving it 17 years ago, I'm wondering how well prepared the UK really is to recover economically without the direct and equal input of its females. Study after study has shown that when women are treated as having an equal voice, companies do better, the country does better, the population as a whole is better fed and cared for, and the environment isn't exploited. This isn't rocket science but somehow in the UK it is treated as if it is. As other women who are fighting for women's empowerment and equality know, the UK and especially the businesses and politics is rather deaf to these ideas.