Tackling gender inequality could add $12tn to the global economy
A recent report by the McKinsey Global Institute found that if each of the 95 countries studied made progress towards closing the gender gap, at the pace of the best-performing economy in its local region, an extra $12 trillion could be added to the annual world economy over the next decade.
Authors of the report argue that progress in the following four areas are typically associated with a narrower gender gap in the workplace:
- Education
- Financial and digital inclusion
- Legal protection of women’s rights
- Sharing of unpaid care work e.g. cooking, cleaning, childcare
Anu Madgavkar, one of the authors, also believes it is important to challenge notions of gender, including the ‘myth’ that persuading women to join the workforce is bad for family life.
“Realising the economic prize of gender parity requires the world to address fundamental drivers of the gap in work equality, such as education, health, connectivity, security, and the role of women in unpaid work,” the report says.