World Bank estimates that closing the gender gap could lift global GDP by more than 20%

On March 4, the World Bank (WB) released its 10th Annual Report on Women, Business and the Law, saying that ending discriminatory laws and practices that prevent women from working or starting businesses could increase global gross domestic product (GDP) by more than 20%, helping to double global growth in the next decade.

Photo: Reuters

The report finds that women on average receive just 64 per cent of the legal protections that men receive, not 77 per cent as previously estimated, and that no country – not even the richest – offers truly equal opportunity. The lower figures reflect major shortcomings exposed by the inclusion of two new indicators – safety and childcare – in addition to wages, marriage, parenthood, workplace, mobility, assets, entrepreneurship and pensions.

The report, the first to assess how 190 countries enforce existing laws to protect women, found what it called a “shocking” gap between policy and practice. Women have the potential to boost the slowing global economy, but reforms aimed at curbing discrimination have lagged far behind, said World Bank chief economist Indermit Gill. Obstacles facing women entering the global workforce include barriers to starting a business, persistent pay gaps and bans on working at night or in jobs deemed “hazardous,” the World Bank report said.

The report also found that women spend an average of 2.4 hours more per day on unpaid care work than men, much of it on childcare, with only 78 countries having quality standards governing childcare. On paper, women have about two-thirds of the rights men have, but countries lack the systems needed to fully implement and enforce them.

For example, 98 economies have equal pay laws, but only 35 have pay transparency measures or enforcement mechanisms to address the pay gap, which suggests that women earn just 77 cents for every US dollar earned by men.

The report includes specific recommendations for governments, including improving laws related to safety, childcare and business opportunities; enacting reforms to remove restrictions on women's work; expanding maternity and paternity leave provisions; and setting binding quotas for women on the boards of publicly traded companies.

Earlier retirement ages for women, despite living longer than men, also limit their earnings. Because they earn lower wages while working, take time off to have children and retire earlier, they receive smaller pension benefits and greater financial insecurity in old age. The report says that only half of women participate in the global workforce, compared to nearly three-quarters of men. This is not only unfair, but also a waste of resources.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/ngan-hang-the-gioi-uoc-tinh-thu-hep-khoang-cach-gioi-co-the-nang-gdp-toan-cau-len-hon-20-306878.html