How Empowering Women Supports Economic Growth

IMF Blog, March 7, 2022

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International Women’s Day, first recognized by the United Nations in 1977, has roots in early 1900s labor movements for better working conditions and women’s right to work.
The continuing pandemic has put female roles in the labor market again in flux, making attention to gender increasingly urgent.
Publication metadata: The Editors, March 7, 2022.

Pandemic labor-market impacts:
- Prolonged school closures and scarcity of childcare services have increased care burdens on mothers of young children, pushing many to leave the labor force (the “she-cession”).
- An IMF staff research paper estimates that the excess employment contraction for mothers of children younger than 5 compared with other women accounted for around 16 percent of the total employment gap in the United States versus pre-pandemic levels.
- Data from three countries—the United States, the United Kingdom, and Spain—shows that women with young children have suffered larger job losses than other women and men.
Domestic violence and economic activity:
- New IMF staff research finds that an increase in violence against women by 1 percentage can reduce economic activities by up to 8 percent, an estimate derived from satellite data on nighttime lights.
Regional human-capital gaps:
- Across most of sub-Saharan Africa, females fall behind males in human capital and related measures; investments in women and girls can unlock the region’s potential and spur recovery.

Gendered Taxes: IMF research examines implicit and explicit gender biases in tax policy, including household taxation, capital and wealth taxes, and consumption taxes.
Legal impediments: A working paper outlines types of legal barriers to women’s economic empowerment and discusses reforms such as parental leave that can promote gender equality and incentivize women’s workforce participation.
Unpaid care work: Jayati Ghosh discusses how GDP measures fail to capture unpaid work—primarily by women—caring for children, the elderly, and other populations.
Climate and gender: Anne-Marie Trevelyan writes on how climate adaptation that ignores gender inequalities furthers exclusion and why women and girls are more vulnerable to climate change impacts.
Diversity in economics: Diane Coyle argues that a lack of diversity within the economics profession limits its ability to address complex policy challenges; Lisa D. Cook discusses how racism and sexism harm innovation and economic growth.
COVID-19 focused items: “Why jobs are plentiful while workers are scarce” and “COVID-19: The Mom’s Emergency” highlight the pandemic’s disproportionate impacts on mothers and female employment.

Support childcare and school continuity to reduce labor-force exits by mothers of young children and address the “she-cession.”
Reform tax policy to address implicit and explicit gender biases across household, capital, wealth, and consumption taxes.
Remove legal barriers that perpetuate gender norms and adopt reforms (for example, parental leave) that encourage female labor-force participation.
Invest in women’s and girls’ human capital, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, to spur regional recovery and growth.
Integrate gender considerations into climate adaptation planning to avoid reinforcing exclusion.
Recognize and account for unpaid care work in policy design and measurement of economic activity.
Address violence against women as a development and economic concern, given its measurable negative effects on economic activity.

Source: How Empowering Women Supports Economic Growth — The Editors, March 7, 2022.