Gender Inequality in OECD Countries

Gender inequality refers to the differences between men and women in economic opportunity and outcomes, including earnings, education, health, and wealth. The gap between male and female incomes is the best known measure of gender inequality. While considerable progress has been made in reducing these gaps, recent trends show that they have stagnated or even reversed in many countries. This article explores the reasons for this trend and suggests policies that could address remaining gaps.

One of the key challenges in measuring and assessing gender equality is to separate out gender gaps from gender inequality. For example, in countries where the gender gap is due to preference/comparative advantage or simply a reflection of the fact that men and women have different abilities, closing such gaps would not imply any significant welfare loss (see Blau and Kahn, 2022).

However, when the gap reflects social norms and discrimination against women, reducing it will require specific policies with clear targets. For these policies to be effective, they need to change beliefs and attitudes. This can be done through educational programs, information campaigns, and legal reforms to ensure that equal rights are enforceable. These policies can have immediate effects, but they are difficult to implement and typically take time to produce results.

The following chart shows that the share of women in the top 10% and 1% of income earners in OECD countries has declined since 2000. The data can be adjusted by clicking on the options ‘Change country’ and ‘Add observations’.

While some progress has been made in increasing the number of women in leadership positions, the gap remains large in most countries. For example, only 26% of CEOs in OECD countries are women.

Even in high-income countries, there are substantial gaps. In the US, women make up just 20% of the population and less than half of all senior management jobs. This figure is lower still in many other countries.

Moreover, there are large gaps in access to education and in the labour market. For example, worldwide, twice as many girls as boys drop out of school by the time they reach adolescence. This is often because their families can’t afford to send them to college and many schools are poorly equipped to meet their needs, especially in low-income countries.

Finally, there are gaps in the distribution of household resources and control over them. For example, in most countries, women have fewer assets and are less likely to own businesses than men. This gap is larger in developing countries.

Overall, the evidence shows that the biggest gaps persist in countries with the highest levels of gender inequality and are linked to poor economic performance. For these reasons, addressing them is crucial for economic development and social justice. While there are no easy answers, policies can be designed to speed up the decline of existing gaps while addressing the root causes. This requires a combination of general and targeted policies with clear goals, well-designed implementation, and adequate monitoring to ensure that they have the desired impact.