Atlanta, Ga., November 25, 2024 – The global economy is at a critical juncture, facing two powerful transformations: the AI revolution and the green transition to a low-carbon economy. These shifts could unlock substantial economic growth and benefit everyone, but only if they are built on gender equality and women’s skills and potential. A new CARE report, The Cost of Inequality: Why the Global Economy Cannot Afford to Leave Women Behind, examines the global gender gap in the context of the future economy, revealing widening inequality for women and girls globally, and how this compromises growth and prosperity for all.
“AI and the green economy have the potential to radically benefit society if we invest in women and girls. But if we leave women and girls behind, we will exacerbate the gap that is already holding the economy back,” said Emily Janoch, CARE’s Associate Vice President of Design and Thought Leadership, and one of the study’s authors.
According to the report, closing the gender gap in employment and entrepreneurship could boost global GDP by more than 20%, while bridging imbalances in lifetime earnings between men and women could unlock a staggering $172 trillion. And gender equality is not only crucial for economic growth, it also holds the key to achieving all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – none of which have been met yet, with just six years left to achieve them.
Unfortunately, data gathered and analyzed by CARE points to a move the wrong direction. Between 2019 and 2022, almost 40% of countries have stalled or backslid on gender equality for women, affecting over a billion women and girls. At the current rate, it will take 152 years to close the economic gender gap. Meanwhile, discrimination against women in the workplace is prevalent, with legal restrictions on their job opportunities in more than half of countries. Moreover, women face a lack of legal protections and unequal pay, with 92 countries lacking equal pay legislation and 155 lacking measures to enforce it. And the overrepresentation of women in informal work leaves two billion women and girls without social protections.
Left with the status quo, the gaps that undermine economic growth will continue to grow in the future without the right investments. This is especially true in a rapidly evolving and competitive economy where barriers for women are stark:
- Young women are twice as likely to be out of school, employment, or training, and they make up just 35% of STEM graduates – and half of men’s concentration in AI talent.
- Women are excluded from leadership positions, with gender parity projected to take 140 years to achieve.
- Women struggle to access finance, with 730 million women remaining unbanked and women-owned businesses facing a $1.9 trillion financing gap in emerging economies.
“Despite the obstacles women face, these are problems we know how to solve,” said Janoch referring to some of the report’s recommendations to boost women’s leadership at work, support female entrepreneurs, and close the digital gap between men and women. “Leadership opportunities, workplace safety, support for care work, and access to education and skills for women and girls all help level the playing field.”
Read the full report here: https://www.care.org/resources/the-cost-of-inequality/