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https://www.imf.org/en/Blogs/Articles/2023/09/27/countries-that-close-gender-gaps-see-substantial-growth-returns>
"Narrowing the gap between the share of men and women who work is one of the
very important reforms policymakers can make to revive economies amid the
weakest medium-term growth outlook in more than three decades.
With global growth predicted to languish at just 3 percent over the next five
years and with traditional growth engines sputtering, many economies are
missing out by not tapping women’s potential. Only 47 percent of women are
active in today’s labor markets, compared with 72 percent of men. The average
global gap has fallen by only 1 percentage point annually over the past three
decades and remains unacceptably wide.
To blame are unfair laws, unequal access to services, discriminatory attitudes
and other barriers that prevent women from realizing their full economic
potential. The result is a shocking waste of talent, leading to losses in
potential growth.
We estimate that emerging and developing economies could boost gross domestic
product by about 8 percent over the next few years by raising the rate of
female labor force participation by 5.9 percentage points—the average amount by
which the top 5 percent of countries reduced the participation gap during
2014-19. As the Chart of the Week shows, that’s more than the economic
“scarring,” or output losses, inflicted on countries by the pandemic."
Via Kevin O'Brien.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
