Gender Inequality

Gender inequality is a fundamental obstacle to human progress and social cohesion. In many countries around the world, men and women have unequal access to education, health care, employment opportunities, economic resources and political power. However, there has been an important change in this pattern during the past few decades. Gender inequality has declined in many areas.

But in other places, it is still entrenched. Women earn 23 percent less than men globally and spend three times as much time on unpaid work in the home (see the figure below). In addition, they are more likely to experience violence at home or at school. In the workplace, female employees are more likely to be overlooked for promotions and may not be able to break through the glass ceiling.

The causes of gender inequality are complex. A large body of research shows that gender bias, cultural norms and attitudes can lead to discrimination that hurts individuals and society as a whole.

Moreover, the role of societal institutions and policies plays an important part. Governments can promote gender equality through laws and policies, including quotas, but they must be prepared to face resistance from vested interests. They need to invest in capacity building, provide incentives and address other barriers, such as low awareness and the lack of financial access for women.

A key limitation to progress is the lack of appropriate data, especially at the individual level. In most data sets, work incomes are well identified, but other sources of household income such as child care subsidies and family leave benefits are not available at the individual level. Furthermore, the vast majority of household expenditure is allocated to males – a fact that can hide progress on gender equality and even mask existing disparities.

There has been progress in collecting data on these issues, but much remains to be done. The IMF’s annual Global Gender Gap Index is a good source of country-level statistics on this topic, and the World Development Indicators database now presents many indicators by male and female.

More effort is also needed to distinguish between the different types of gender gaps and identify effective policies. For those gaps that reflect preference or comparative advantage between men and women, such as in tertiary enrollment rates and labor force participation, general policies will often be sufficient to close them. On the other hand, more targeted gender policies can be much more successful when addressing those gaps that arise because of structural obstacles (e.g., in field of study and distribution of jobs across sectors and mid-level management positions).

Reducing these gaps will benefit everyone – by boosting productivity, improving financial inclusion, strengthening macroeconomic stability and lowering income inequality (Kochhar and others, 2017; Sahay and others, 2018; Gonzales and others, 2015b). However, this will require leadership, investment and comprehensive policy reforms that focus on all dimensions of gender equality. Without them, the global progress in closing the gap will be at risk.