## How Empowering Women Supports Economic Growth

_IMF Blog, March 7, 2022_

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**Canonical URL:** [How Empowering Women Supports Economic Growth](https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2022/03/07/how-empowering-women-supports-economic-growth)

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## Bibliographic details
- Authors: The Editors
- Published: March 7, 2022

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### Overview
- 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.

### Key findings and estimates
- 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.

### Research, commentaries, and topics highlighted
- 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.

### Policy implications and areas for action
- 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.*

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## References

- [blogs](https://blogs.imf.org/)
- [podcasts](https://www.imf.org/en/News/Podcasts/)
- [gender](https://www.imf.org/external/themes/gender/)
- [Why jobs are plentiful while workers are scarce](https://blogs.imf.org/2022/01/19/why-jobs-are-plentiful-while-workers-are-scarce/)
- [IMF staff research paper](https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2022/01/18/Has-COVID-19-Induced-Labor-Market-Mismatch-Evidence-from-the-US-and-the-UK-511917)
- [Gendered Taxes](https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2022/02/04/Gendered-Taxes-The-Interaction-of-Tax-Policy-with-Gender-Equality-512231)
- [Tackling legal impediments to women’s economic empowerment](https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2022/02/18/Tackling-Legal-Impediments-to-Womens-Economic-Empowerment-513392)
- [Unleashing women and girls’ human capital: a game changer for Africa](https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2021/12/africa-unleashing-women-girls-human-capital.htm)
- [F&D](https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/index.htm)
- [Diane Coyle on making economics better](https://www.imf.org/en/News/Podcasts/All-Podcasts/2021/11/18/diane-coyle-women-in-economics)
- [How domestic violence threatens economic development](https://blogs.imf.org/2021/11/24/how-domestic-violence-is-a-threat-to-economic-development/)
- [New IMF staff research](https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2021/11/19/The-Heavy-Economic-Toll-of-Gender-based-Violence-Evidence-from-Sub-Saharan-Africa-509667)
- [Jayati Ghosh on unpaid care work](https://www.imf.org/en/News/Podcasts/All-Podcasts/2021/10/20/jayati-ghosh)
- [Advancing gender equality through climate action](https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2021/09/advancing-gender-equality-through-climate-action-cop26-trevelyan.htm)
- [Lisa D. Cook on how racism and sexism hurt us all](https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2020/12/profile-of-economist-lisa-cook-michigan-state-university.htm)
- [COVID-19: The Mom’s Emergency](https://blogs.imf.org/2021/04/30/covid-19-the-moms-emergency-2/)
- [IMF estimates](https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2021/03/03/COVID-19-She-Cession-The-Employment-Penalty-of-Taking-Care-of-Young-Children-50117)
- [gender strategy](https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/Gender-Strategy)

_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2022/03/07/how-empowering-women-supports-economic-growth_