Atisha Kumar Research Director, JustJobsNetwork June … · Atisha Kumar Research Director, JustJobsNetwork June 25, 2016

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Atisha KumarResearch Director, JustJobs Network

June 25, 2016

www.justjobsnetwork.org

• High economic and social benefits of women in the workforce

• Yet women remain underrepresented in the workforce and in leadership positions

• Several challenges prevent women from working

• A gender wage gap exists across regions and sectors

• Women have fared worse in the global economic crisis

• How can we overcome these challenges

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• Advancing women’s equality à Increase in Global GDP by $12 trillion or 11% by 2025

• Giving women economic power shifts spending toward children, education and health

• Increasing the share of household income controlled by women• Changes spending in ways that benefit children and improves social

outcomes

• Business profits increase with women’s economic equality • Leadership opportunities for women à organizational effectiveness• Companies with three or more women in senior management functions

are more effective

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• Women account for half the world’s working age population, but only 40% of the labor force

• Globally, 72% of working-age men worked while only 50% of working-age women work

• Female labor force participation has improved over time in some regions, but there is still a long way to go to close the gap

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Source: UN Women

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Source: Knowledge Center, catalyst.org

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• Women remain underrepresented in trade unions• Membership• Leadership positions

• Globally, women make up 20% of the BWI’s membership

• In the U.S., women comprised 45.5 percent of all union members in 2015

• Women occupy a small share of union leadership positions worldwide

• Even in unions where women make up the majority of the membership, representation in union leadership is still disproportionately low

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• 90% of countries have some kind of legal restriction on women’s economic activity

• Women bear disproportionate responsibility for unpaid care work. • More hours spent in housework and care for children, elderly, and the sick• Less time for market activities

• Women continue to face a higher risk of informal employment than men, as they often have less legal and social protection

• Women’s interests are not represented adequately in the workplace• Example: lack of childcare facilities may prevent women from working

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• Women in most countries earn on average only 60 to 75 per cent of men’s wages

• Potential reasons for the gender wage gap include: • Women are more likely to be wage workers and unpaid family workers• Higher likelihood of engaging in low-productivity activities• Increased chanced of working in the informal sector, with less mobility to the

formal sector than men• In some cultures, women may be perceived as economic dependents; • Higher likelihood that women are in unorganized sectors or not represented in

unions

• Even in the apparel sector, where women make up nearly 80% of the workforce, there is gender wage gap

• In India, the share of females in informal apparel and textile firms exceeds those in formal apparel and textile firms

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Even in the apparel sector, where women make up nearly 80% of the workforce, there is gender wage gap

In India, the share of females in informal apparel and textile firms exceeds those in formal apparel and textile firms

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Industrialized Economies Transition Economies Least Developed Economies

Construction and

Manufacturing

Public Sector

Small-scalemanufacturing sectors Informal sectors

Initial wave of job losses targeted women

disproportionately

Women in Asia have witnesses job losses

Women work longer hours, engage in

dangerous activities

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• Easing restrictions on women’s work

• Providing more social and legal protection for women to encourage formal employment

• Increased workplace policies that are targeted toward women

• More emphasis on education and skilling for women

-à Increased leadership at all levels of government, in business and especially in unions