## Countries That Close Gender Gaps See Substantial Growth Returns

_IMF Blog, September 27, 2023_

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Countries That Close Gender Gaps See Substantial Growth Returns](https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2023/09/27/countries-that-close-gender-gaps-see-substantial-growth-returns)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/en/blogs/articles/2023/09/27/countries-that-close-gender-gaps-see-substantial-growth-returns/index.md)
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## Bibliographic details
- Authors: Antoinette M Sayeh, Alejandro Badel, Rishi Goyal
- Published: September 27, 2023

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### Overview
- Empowering women economically is framed as "a powerful engine of inclusive growth."
- Date and authors as presented: Antoinette M. Sayeh, Alejandro Badel, Rishi Goyal; September 27, 2023.
- The piece emphasizes narrowing the gap between the share of men and women who work as an important reform to revive economies amid the weakest medium-term growth outlook in more than three decades.

### Key findings and projections
- Global growth is predicted to languish at just3 percent over the next five years.
- Labor force participation rates: Only47 percent of women are active in today’s labor markets, compared with 72 percent of men.
- The average global gap has fallen by only 1 percentage point annually over the past three decades.
- Estimated GDP gain: Emerging and developing economies could boost gross domestic product by about 8 percent over the next few years by raising the rate of female labor force participation by 5.9 percentage points—the average amount by which the top 5 percent of countries reduced the participation gap during 2014-19.
- The potential gain ("about 8 percent") is described as larger than the economic "scarring," or output losses, inflicted on countries by the pandemic.
- Under present policy trajectories, gender gaps in labor force participation will narrow but never close; gaps would remain large for most countries, exceeding 16 percentage points in one out of ten countries.

### Drivers of the gap and setbacks
- Causes identified: unfair laws, unequal access to services, discriminatory attitudes, and other barriers that prevent women from realizing their full economic potential.
- Progress over three decades has been uneven; economies of all income levels experienced several setbacks due to shocks, crises, and policy reversals.
- The pandemic eroded progress closing gender gaps, especially forwomen with young children.
- Setbacks cause scarring that slows and often reverses progress toward gender equality.

### Policy implications and recommendations
- Countries must step up efforts to break down barriers to women’s participation in the labor market, including limited access to education, health, assets, finance, land, legal rights, and care services.
- Policymakers should systematically take account of how macroeconomic, structural, and financial policy packages impact women.
- Complementing governance and financial reforms (to strengthen institutions and unlock capital for investment) with measures to narrow gender gaps would greatly amplify growth returns.

### Role of the IMF
- The IMF’sgender strategyaims to assist member countries in these efforts.

*Source: Countries That Close Gender Gaps See Substantial Growth Returns (IMF blog post, September 27, 2023).*

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## References

- [3 percent](https://www.imf.org/en/Blogs/Articles/2023/04/19/world-economic-outlook-shows-economies-facing-high-uncertainty)
- [https://www.imf.org/-/media/images/imf/blog/articles/cotw-charts/2023/september/genderblogchart20.jpg](https://www.imf.org/-/media/images/imf/blog/articles/cotw-charts/2023/september/genderblogchart20.jpg)
- [recent IMF blog.](https://www.imf.org/en/Blogs/Articles/2023/09/25/how-reform-can-aid-growth-and-green-transition-in-developing-economies)
- [research paper](https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2023/09/13/When-Will-Global-Gender-Gaps-Close-537981)
- [women with young children](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/Publications/Policy-Papers/Issues/2022/07/28/IMF-Strategy-Toward-Mainstreaming-Gender-521344)

_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2023/09/27/countries-that-close-gender-gaps-see-substantial-growth-returns_