A Global Imperative

IMF Blog, March 8, 2019

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March 8 marks International Women’s Day and provides a chance to reflect on the struggle for greater gender equality.
Persistent issues highlighted: sexual harassment and violence; unequal laws; unfairness in the workplace where women are often underemployed, underpaid, and underpromoted.
Policymakers have a crucial role in designing policies that help women and girls access education, health services, safe transportation, legal protection against harassment, finance, and flexible working arrangements.

The IMF recommends policy measures to member countries and works with many governments to examine how policies affect women.
The IMF has increased emphasis on women’s empowerment because it is both an ethical imperative and a macroeconomic opportunity tied to stability and inclusive growth.
Specific areas for policy focus include:
- Education access
- Health services
- Safe transportation
- Legal protection against harassment
- Access to finance
- Flexible working arrangements

If women’s employment equaled men’s, economies would be more resilient and economic growth would be higher.
New estimates: for the bottom half of countries in the IMF sample in terms of gender inequality, closing the gender gap in employment could increase GDP by an average of 35 percent.
Of that 35 percent GDP increase, 7–8 percentage points are productivity gains due to gender diversity.
Corporate governance finding: adding one more woman in a firm’s senior management or corporate board—while keeping the size of the board unchanged—is associated with an 8–13 basis point higher return on assets.
Banking sector finding: if banks and financial supervisors increased the share of women in senior positions, the banking sector would be more stable.

The IMF’s 189 member countries face diverse challenges, yet empowering women is presented as a common denominator and a global imperative.
Achieving greater gender equality advances fairness, diversity, productivity, and inclusive growth—benefiting societies and economies broadly.

Christine Lagarde, March 8, 2019 — A Global Imperative