Many studies have shown that balancing the gender scales will not only help women, but it will help the economy too. A report by Mckinsey Global Institute showed that if women played the same role in the economy as men do it could boost annual GDP by as much as $28 trillion by 2025, or 26% of global GDP, compared with the scenario if nothing changed. The report looked at gender quality indicators from 95 different countries, which is about 90% of the women population in the world. Even if each country in the survey were to advance gender inequality by matching the rate of improvement of the best performing country in their region, it could boost growth by $12 trillion by 2025. It would also close the gap between hours worked between women and men. The highest growth would be seen in India, the Middle East, and North Africa. In regards to the United States, we could add 19% to current GDP by 2025 if gender parity was reached.
Mckinsey researchers found four key areas in which there would be the biggest impact. The Four areas are: closing gaps in education, closing gaps in financial and digital inclusion, bolstering legal protection for women, and improving attitudes and practices toward unpaid work.
What are your guys' thoughts?
4 comments:
No doubt, improving the status of women would benefit domestic and global markets. Specifically in developing countries, giving women the same education and economic opportunities would only benefit the economy. In these countries, women are often participating in informal markets that are not included in GDP, such as selling wood or produce on the side of the road. They also do an incredible amount of work in the house that also remains not calculated into the national GDP. While the equality of all women is ideal, there are several cultural barriers that need to be slowly broken in order for it to be reached. In several cultures and societies, the entrenched role of women is not in the marketplace. I believe that this will be a slow transformation as all corners of the world become more globalized. I think that the four key areas that McKinsey identified are all equally important goals.
I agree with Lizzy, in that women's work in the household in the U.S. and other countries, goes uncredited for the most part (especially when factoring into the national GDP). Clearly, breaking gender roles will be easier to do in some countries than others. For example, I feel that in the U.S. we have made pretty significant strides in recent past years. Five years ago you would not find a "dad" in an advertisement for cleaning, cooking, or caring for the kids. Now there are tons of advertisements, commercials, etc. that encompass this. If we start to encourage gender equality in the workplace and in society in general globally, women all over the globe will gain more respect. In developing countries women are extremely hardworking and go under appreciated. These women should be able to put their unseen abilities to use, which will in result stimulate the country's economy, as well as the global economy. I am very excited to see this process develop in the future.
I think that this could be especially important for foreign countries. The United States has made great strides to improve gender equality in many different areas. While stay at home mothers and fathers are not counted in the national GDP of the country there are other factors that still show the benefit of these individuals at a national level. Since some countries are way behind in this front, I think that if they were to embrace more gender equal norms their economies would flourish.
Lets talk about it on an economic and not a social level. Is there going to be an increase in productivity if an individual is given compensation based on their merit and not gender? The answer is absolutely yes. If women were given the same pay as men for the same types of jobs it would mean a more competitive workforce and motivation for women to gain more education since the idea of unequal pay would stop being a hindrance in the quest for education. Overall it would lead to women investing more in themselves and thus a more competitive labor market that is going to benefit the entire economy. The economics behind this idea make sense.
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