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Measuring the Gender Gap
- 1. MEASURING THE GENDERGAP Gabriela Ramos OECD Chief of Staff, Special Counsellor to the OECD Secretary-General, and Sherpa to the G20 Why women matter Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Rome, October 21 2016
- 2. The economic case foraddressing the gender gap 2 Source: OECD June 2016 Economic Outlook database; OECD calculations. Contributions to potential output per capita growth in the OECD
- 3. Women are lesslikely to study engineering, manufacturing, and construction Source: OECD Education at a Glance 2015 Female share (%) of graduates in engineering, manufacturing and construction, all tertiary levels (ISCED2011 levels 5 to 8), 2014 or latest available 3 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 Female share (%) of graduates in engineering, manufacturing and construction
- 4. Female labour forceparticipation rates and gender gaps differ across the OECD Female and male labour force participation rates (15-64 year olds), 2015 or latest available OECD Employment Database and OECD estimates based on national labour force surveys for Argentina and Saudi Arabia. 4 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Women Men
- 5. Gender pay gapsare substantial across countries Note: Data refer to hourly wage for full time employees (working more than 30 hour per week in the main job), except for Germany, Japan, and Korea for which they refer to monthly earnings of full-time employees. Sources: OECD estimates based on EU-SILC for EU countries except for Germany for which they are based on GSOEP, Household, Income and Labour Dynamics for Australia, Labour force Survey for Canada, National labour force survey for Korea, Basic Survey on Wage Structure for Japan, Encuesta Nacional de Ocupación y Empleo (ENOE) for Mexico, National Labour Force Survey for Turkey and the Current Population Survey, ASEC Supplement for the United States. Gender pay gap in median hourly wages, full-time employees, 2014 or latest available 5 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 2014 2005
- 6. The 2013 OECDGender Recommendation: Promoting Gender Equality in Education, Employment, and Entrepreneurship • Sets policy measures that governments should consider to: • Promote good quality education for boys and girls, and gender equality in educational choices; • Promote family-friendly policies and working conditions, and combat discrimination; • Reduce the gender gap in entrepreneurship activity. • Countries are called to reinforce the production of gender-specific data and monitor progress 6
- 7. Promoting equality atthe highest levels of the private sector 7Source: European Commission (2016) and Catalyst (2015) in OECD Gender Data Portal Female share of seats on boards of the largest publicly-listed companies, 2014
- 8. Promote gender equalityin public and private leadership Data refer to share of women parliamentarians recorded as of 1 June 2016, and 25 October 25 2002. Bars in light blue represent countries with lower or single house parliaments with legislated candidate quotas and/or reserved seat quotas. Italy does not have lower or single house parliaments with legislated candidate quotas and/or reserved seat quotas but does have legislation requiring candidate quotas for sub-national elections. In Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Turkey and the United Kingdom some political parties operate voluntary party quotas. Source: OECD Gender Review of Mexico (forthcoming) for OECD member countries.. Female share (%) of seats in lower or single house legislative bodies, 2002 and 2016 8 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 Female share (%) of seats 2016 2002
- 9. The 2015 OECDRecommendation on Gender Equality in Public Life • Recommendation proposes a range of policy tools to promote: • Good governance and accountability for gender equality; • Gender balance in leadership and public institutions; • Gender equality in public employment. • Targeted outcomes are gender- sensitive laws, policies, budgets, and services and improved access to public leadership. 9
- 10. • As partof our broader mission to promote better policies for better lives, in 2017 we will publish a report monitoring countries’ progress on our 2013 Gender Recommendation. • Other OECD gender work includes Gender Data Portal, Gendernet, Index of Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI), and country gender reviews (USA, Mexico, Germany, Pacific Alliance countries). Ongoing work on gender 10
- 11. Ending violence againstwomen 11 • OECD has joined the Call to Action to Combat Gender- Based Violence in Emergencies • The OECD is applying three tools in this campaign: – Gathering and publishing new data tracking violence against women – Focusing on policies to tackle the root causes of gender-based violence: laws, attitudes, social norms – Drive action on the ground to improve countries’ response to violence against women
- 12. The G20 GenderTarget • OECD was instrumental in defining the G20 commitment on gender. • A major breakthrough in 2014, under the Australian G20 presidency: Leaders agreed to reduce the gender gap in labour market participation rates by 25% by 2025 introduced 11 policy principles to improve the quality of employment. 12 • This objective could have a “double dividend”: 100 million more women in the labour force Positive effects on productivity • The OECD, with the ILO, were charged with implementing this commitment which will help achieve the growth targets.
- 13. Gender in theG7 • Gender equality has also been in the agenda of the G7. • Under the German presidency, in 2015, G7 countries adopted principles to boost entrepreneurship among women. • The 2016 Japanese presidency focused on promoting women in STEM and launched the G7 Women’s Initiative in Developing STEM Career. • The OECD supported presidencies in these efforts and we stand ready to support the Italian presidency as well. 13
- 14. Thank you andfurther information Contact: Gabriela.ramos@oecd.org Follow me: @gabramosp OECD Gender Data Portal OECD Closing the Gender Gap - Act Now www.oecd.org/gender www.genderindex.org www.oecd.org/dac/genderdevelopment/aboutgendernet www.oecd.org/inclusive-growth OECD Better Life Initiative http://www.oecd.org/statistics/how-s-life-23089679.htm 14
Editor's Notes
- #3 Global context: Slow growth and weak recovery (low productivity growth, and half performing engines of trade and investment, slowing growth in the EMEs) Long-term impact of the crisis: low levels of investment, long-term unemployment (hysteresis effect) and reduced labour market participation result in reduced potential output, i.e. the ability of our economies to grow over the LT. Make the case for a bold policy response: Need to harness all sources of growth, including raising labour market participation by increasing women’s participation in the LM (=reducing the gender gap). This is the reason why the OECD pushed very hard to inject this dimension and called vigourously for concrete commitments (such as the G20 25x25 target) in this area. Please note: The standard gender-growth projections are not included in this presentation because Italy (along with Spain) has an odd result: the 25x25 adjustment actually produces LOWER total labour force size (and thus lower growth) than the baseline projection. Under the baseline scenario, the gender gap is already predicted to fall by around 30% in Italy because women’s participation is predicted to change little, while men’s participation is predicted to fall dramatically. On the positive side, women will make up an increasing share of the labour force. However, this occurs in a context of large labour force declines overall, with negative consequences for economic performance. Declining male participation (even as female participation holds constant, thus shrinking the gap) is not an ideal strategy for reaching the 25x25 target. (This graphic is prepared and available, but perhaps not ideal to present to an audience.)
- #4 Let’s start with an overview of the various dimensions of this gender gap: In most OECD countries, including Italy, young women now obtain a higher level of educational attainment than young men. In fact, in many OECD countries there are serious concerns about boys dropping out of school and not reaching the baseline level of performance in reading science and maths, while in other (typically developing) economies, keeping adolescent girls in school remains a challenge. Men and women also tend to make different choices in the field of study. Across the OECD on average, only 24% of graduates in engineering, manufacturing and construction are women. These outcomes are not linked to ability as much as to attitudes: young girls, even when they are good at math, have less self-confidence than boys in their own math problem solving ability and girls often express strong feeling of anxiety towards mathematics. Italy is doing better than the OECD average in the female share of graduates in engineering, manufacturing and construction, but is still far from reaching equality: only 34% of graduates in these fields are women. There is growing awareness of the importance of understanding career opportunities in generating students’ interest. Raising the profile of career opportunities and role models can help to promote greater gender equality in all fields of study. In the United States, the Department of Education’s “Race to the Top” programme prioritizes improving STEM achievement overall and within under-represented groups – including women and girls – in awarding grants to states. To help a more gender equal representation across fields of study, OECD countries also have taken actions to review educational resources to avoid stereotyped representations, help teachers become aware of unconscious gender bias, and provide better information to boys and girls about educational pathways and potential pay. With evidence from OECD PISA work and OECD Education at a Glance in hand, the OECD continues to raise the issue also on the international leadership agenda: The OECD contributed to the G7 Ise-Shima Summit, and the Leadership declaration includes a commitment to empowering women and girls, including through capacity-building such as education and training as well as promoting the active role of women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields.
- #5 Female labour force participation (FLFP) rates differ enormously across OECD countries. The lowest FLFP rates are in Turkey, Italy and Mexico. Italy has significant room for improvement with a prime-age FLFP rate of 55%. The gender gap in LFP is also relatively large in these countries. In Italy, the gender gap is nearly 20 percentage points, compared to an OECD average gap of 12 percentage points. In contrast, in countries such as Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, and Iceland, more than three-quarters of women are in the labour force. These rates are comparable to men’s. If we were to take into consideration the intensity of participation gaps would be even larger because women are more likely than men to work part-time, especially in some European countries. For example almost 4 out of 10 employed women in Germany work on a part-time basis.
- #6 Women earn less than men. The median hourly gender pay gap in OECD countries in 2014 was is 12.5% on average. Gender pay gaps are relatively low in Italy, Mexico and Turkey, but remember that pay gaps only concern those women who are in paid work: in these countries, many women with childcare responsibilities are not in employment, and women who do work may have relatively high earning potential. Many factors drive gender pay gap: high rates of workforce withdrawal and career interruption among young and childrearing-age women; low-paying jobs; gender segregation in occupation and sectors; the under-representation of women in senior management and on company boards; high levels of informality; attitudes and social institutions; and discrimination in hiring, pay, and promotions.
- #7 To spur progress in closing gender gaps, in 2013 OECD countries agreed to a set of policy measures to promote gender equality in the “3 Es” Among these let me mention: help a more gender equal representation across fields of study, by review teaching material and practices against stereotyped representations, help teachers become aware of unconscious gender bias, and provide better information to boys and girls about educational pathways and potential pay. Raising the profile of career opportunities and role models can also help. For example, in the United States, the Department of Education’s “Race to the Top” programme prioritizes improving STEM achievement overall and within under-represented groups – including women and girls – in awarding grants to states. Family friendly policies, and in particular access to childcare and paternity leave are important policy level to support working parents and help close gender gaps in labour markets. More and more countries are introducing paid leave for fathers to incentivize them to contribute to childcare for babies and very young children. About 3/4 of OECD countries now offer paid leave reserved for fathers. On average across the OECD, fathers are entitled to eight weeks of leave, measured as the total weeks of paid paternity and parental leave that can only be taken by the father. Gender gaps persist in entrepreneurship, especially at the stage of hiring employees. Policy actions to promote women entrepreneurship include ensuring equal access to finance; reducing barriers and administrative burden on firms; support for training programs, awareness campaigns and networks for female entrepreneurs
- #8 One example of policies in action are gender targets, quotas and disclosure requirements. Many countries have introduced them to close gender gaps in the management and executive levels. As the chart shows, only about 20% of board seats on listed companies across OECD countries are occupied by women. The share of women on publicly-listed corporate boards illustrates the gender gap. Finland, France, Norway, and Iceland perform the best, with over 30% of board seats held by women. Italy also does relatively well, at 26%, in part due to the 2011 introduction of quotas for women on boards. Norway was the first to introduce board quotas in 2005. Italy also introduced a temporary and gradual quota. A team of researchers recently published a paper showing that the reform was associated with more female board directors, and higher levels of education on the board. On the other hand, there was no evidence of improved firm performance. Note: The 2013 Gender Recommendation does not call for quotas. It calls to increase the representation of women in decision-making positions by: Encouraging measures such as voluntary targets, disclosure requirements and private initiatives that enhance gender diversity on boards and in senior management of listed companies; Complementing such efforts with other measures to support effective board participation by women and expand the pool of qualified candidates; Continuing to monitor and analyse the costs and benefits of different approaches – including voluntary targets, disclosure requirements, and boardroom quotas – to promote gender diversity in leadership positions in private companies.
- #9 Women are also under represented in public life. They are still a minority in parliaments, ministerial positions and the judiciary. On average in OECD countries women occupy around 28% of seats in parliaments, even though this is an 8 percentage point improvement compared to 2002.
- #10 Because it is so important to ensure gender equality in governance and public leadership, in 2015 OECD countries agreed to a set of policy measures to promote gender equality in public life. Affirmative action measures such as gender quotas and parity principles are being used to accelerate women’s representation in all levels of government or as political candidates in various OECD countries and beyond. In Mexico, for example, quotas and the subsequent introduction of the parity principle in the Constitution have strongly influenced increasing women’s access to elected bodies, both at the federal and state level. However, quota requirements in the electoral law are not sufficient to increase women’s representation in politics. Other measures laid out in the 2015 OECD Recommendation on Gender Equality in Public Life public life include ensuring women have leadership opportunities (e.g., participate in committee work as chairs) and have a gender-sensitive work environment. In getting women into any type of (public or private) leadership role, it is also important to fix holes in the “leaky pipeline” to ensure that well-qualified women can make it to the top – for example by providing childcare supports, flexible workplace practices, and reasonable work hours.
- #12 Violence against women is not only a violation of basic human rights, but it has a high financial cost: OECD estimates suggest that discriminatory social institutions – including violence against women – cost the global economy approximately 12 trillion US dollars a year. For gender-based violence to end, we must target root causes. Therefore the OECD is addressing gender-based violence as part of a holistic and ambitious gender equality agenda to empower women and girls in all spheres of their lives. As part of this Call to Action: First, we will focus on data. Data on the prevalence and incidence of gender-based violence remain scarce. Statistics on how much money is going to combatting violence against women are also inadequate. The OECD is working to fill these data gaps. 2. Second, we will focus on policies to tackle the root causes of violence against women. The OECD Social Institutions and Gender Index, or SIGI, looks at the laws, attitudes, social norms and practices that drive violence against women. Across the 160 countries included in the SIGI, one in three women agree that domestic violence is justified; in some countries, this climbs close to 90%. Our research reveals that such discriminatory social institutions cost the global economy approximately 12 trillion U.S. dollars. 3. Third, we will drive collective action to improve the response to gender-based violence on the ground. The OECD supports countries and UN agencies to address the risks and threats that fuel crises around the world. We will work with members to put gender front and center in these efforts.
- #13 In a context of 1) slow growth and reduced potential growth and 2) a lingering under-utilization of women’s skills and competences in the labour market, the OECD worked hard to build with the G20 membership a powerful agenda aimed at reducing the gender gap in the labour market, focused on the achievement of a target, the 25 by 25; The US Sherpa asked the OECD, with the other institutions, to document how much gender participation would add to growth. We patiently built the case: the issue was indeed transferred to the WG on Employment of the G20 where our Director for Employment, Stefano Scarpetta, led the charge for the analytical substance and definitions, and convincing experts that it was not only necessary but possible (and even fighting the ILO which was not helpful). We had to show how the achievement of this target would contribute to reaching the Brisbane “2 in 5” objective which was the sort of cornerstone of the Australian Presidency in 2014. These efforts were supported by the US, by the Australian G20 Presidency, but also by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who unveiled domestic policies to encourage more women to return to work after the birth of their first child. In the end, we brought it to the leaders table when discussing the Communiqué in Brisbane. G20 members agreed to implement measures across a range of key policy areas, subject to national circumstances, including to (G20 LEMM Declaration, 2014):