Vi-M Talent Assist

Globalization, digital innovation, and climate change, among other factors, continue to change the world in which we work — posing both challenges as well as opportunities in realizing women’s economic potential for a better tomorrow. Below, explore just some facts on where women stand today in the changing world of work.

LABOR FORCE

Even as globalization has brought millions of women into paid labor, the number of women in the workforce is far behind that of men. Gender inequalities have also concentrated women at the bottom of the global value chain — in the lowest paid jobs, in piece-rate, subcontracted work, and insecure forms of self-employment, with little or no access to decent work and social protection. Women are half the world’s potential and unleashing it requires access to decent, good-quality paid work as well as gender-sensitive policies and regulations, such as adequate parental leave and flexible hours. The economics make sense, too: If women played an identical role in labor markets to that of men, as much as US$28 trillion, or 26 per cent, could be added to the global annual Gross Domestic Product by 2025.

OCCUPATIONAL SEGREGATION

Women are concentrated in lower-paid, lower-skill work with greater job insecurity and under-represented in decision-making roles and fields such as science and technology. Today, half the global working population works in services, a sector where women dominate. The share of women in services reaches as high as 77 per cent and 91.4 per cent respectively in East Asia and Northern America. Where women work varies greatly by region and income-level though: In high-income countries, women are concentrated in health, education, wholesale, and retail trade sectors, whereas in low-income and lower-middle-income countries women are concentrated in agricultural labor. Sectoral and occupational segregation is a consequence of structural barriers and gender-based discrimination, such as poverty, inflexible working hours, limited or no access to affordable quality childcare, poor parental leave policies and social attitudes, among many other factors. Women’s leadership and representation in trade unions, worker and employer organizations and corporate boards is critical to upholding fundamental labor rights and ensuring decent work for all.

WAGE GAP

Globally, women only make 77 cents for all dollar men earn. This is a major cause of lifetime income inequality. At current rates, it will take 70 years to close this gap. Labor policies are a critical factor when it comes to this gap. For instance, women face greater constraints in balancing paid work and family responsibilities. Restrictive policies, such as inflexible working hours and limited parental leave, can impede women’s mobility in the workforce and force them into part-time employment. In turn, this exposes them to further inequalities, such as limited access to social protection, in particular old-age benefits. Women with children are more vulnerable to these inequalities — also known as the motherhood penalty. In sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, the gender pay gap is 31 percent and 35 per cent, respectively, for women with children, compared to 4 per cent and 14 per cent for women without children.

UNPAID WORK

From cooking and cleaning, to fetching water and firewood or taking care of children and the elderly, women bear a disproportionate burden of unpaid work across the world. Unpaid work supports the economy and often fills in for lack of public expenditures on social services and infrastructure. In fact, unpaid care and domestic work is valued to be 10 and 39 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product. This means it can contribute more to the economy than the manufacturing, commerce, or transportation sectors. Besides men taking on a great share, policies that reduce and redistribute women’s and girls’ unpaid work, expand paid jobs in care services, and provide social protection and basic infrastructure, such as access to clean water, are essential for women to enter and remain in the paid labor force and realize their full economic potential.

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Violence against women in the world of work is a human rights violation that affects women regardless of age, location, income or social status. Women can experience harassment or sexual assault at or on the way to and from work. While many countries have laws or provisions to address such violence, their impact is limited. In the European Union, for instance, 55% of women have experienced sexual harassment at least once since the age of 15. Of these, 32% experienced it in a place of work. Violence against women can restrict women’s economic and social potential and have a significant impact on their physical and mental health, which can lead to absenteeism, missed promotions and job losses.

LEGAL BARRIERS

Barriers to gender equality persist in every country, in both private and public spheres, and are rooted in historically unequal power relations between women and men. Legal barriers only compound gender inequalities, which manifest in fewer girls attending secondary school relative to boys, fewer women working or running businesses and a wider gender wage gap. Today, at least one gender-based legal restriction on women’s employment and entrepreneurship still exists in 155 countries*; husbands can legally prevent their wives from working in 18 countries*; and laws against gender discrimination in hiring practices are only in place in 67 countries. In order for women to realize their economic potential, countries need to remove discrimination against women in their legislation in line with the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women — the women’s human rights treaty that obliges countries to take concrete measures for the advancement of women in public and private life.

DIGITAL DIVIDE

Automation, artificial intelligence, robotics, and the internet, among other technological developments, have transformed the world of work, posing both challenges and opportunities for women’s economic empowerment. Notwithstanding the gender gaps that exist in the access and use of digital technologies, these same technologies lift geographical barriers that can be both beneficial and detrimental to women. Let’s look at “crowdwork” in the gig economy, which operates through online platforms that connect firms with workers globally, providing individuals with more opportunities for income regardless of location. Yet, most crowdworkers are self-employed independent contractors without labor protections who are more vulnerable to potential risks and liabilities of transactions with customers. Gender inequalities that already exist for women are only mirrored, if not compounded, in the gig economy, which has mostly eluded labor protection and employment regulation. As this space continues to evolve, women need to be fully equipped with the education, training, and vocational and entrepreneurial skills to achieve equal outcomes and seize new opportunities as they emerge.

Source: www.unwomen.org

Women & Work