No country in the world affords women the same opportunities as men in the workforce, according to a new report from the World Bank, which found the global gender gap was far wider than previously thought. For the first time, the bank investigated the impact of childcare and safety policies on women’s participation in the labor market in 190 countries. It found that when these two factors were taken into account, women on average enjoyed just 64% of the legal protections men do, down from the previous estimate of 77%. Report author Tea Trumbic said childcare and safety issues particularly affected women’s ability to work. Violence could physically prevent them from going to work, and childcare costs could make it prohibitive. The 10th edition of the women, business and the law report, published on Monday, also for the first time assessed the gap between laws and the policies put in place to implement them. It found countries had, on average, established less than 40% of the systems needed for full implementation. “All over the world, discriminatory laws and practices prevent women from working or starting businesses on an equal footing with men,” said Indermit Gill, chief economist of the World Bank Group. “Closing this gap could raise global gross domestic product by more than 20% – essentially doubling the global growth rate over the next decade – but reforms have slowed to a crawl.” Follow the link below for the full story: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/mar/05/no-equality-for-working-women-in-any-country-in-the-world-study-reveals-world-bank-gender-gap?utm_campaign=later-linkinbio-guardian_us&utm_content=later-41660131&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkin.bio
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