Accelerate and Scale Up Efforts to Close the Gender Gap

Gender inequality remains an endemic problem. While there has been progress, women still earn only 77 cents for every dollar that men do and global poverty rates are expected to increase by 2023. It is time to accelerate and scale up efforts to close the gender gap.

Gender equality is good for everyone. When it is achieved, it will boost economic growth and create more jobs, promote peace, and fight climate change. It will also benefit children by improving their life chances. And, most importantly, it will help families and individuals overcome the barriers that prevent them from prospering – by providing them with better education, health care and opportunities to succeed.

It is important to recognize that the causes of gender inequality are complex and multifaceted. Therefore, policy action should address multiple aspects of the problem. Ideally, policies would start with those that directly target the root causes, which are often linked to gender bias and social norms. However, achieving this goal is challenging as it takes time to have an impact and requires influencing people’s views and beliefs. Policy interventions typically focus on reducing gender gaps in specific areas, such as education, labor markets, and financial access.

One of the reasons why progress on closing gender gaps has varied by country is that the scope of policies and the extent to which they have an impact will depend on countries’ circumstances and levels of development. As a result, the focus on gender reforms has evolved as countries move from addressing gaps that are more explicit and visible to those that are more subtle and implicit, such as differences in learning outcomes (i.e., quality of education and field of study) and the allocation of human capital across different sectors.

While the overall educational gap for boys and girls has narrowed over the past decade, there is still a great deal of work to be done to ensure that all children have access to quality education. Too many girls remain out of school, particularly in low-income countries. Many girls miss out on schooling because of a lack of funding and poor quality, while others are forced to abandon their studies due to pregnancy or marriage, or because of family constraints.

In addition, those who do attend school are not necessarily enrolled in high-quality institutions. Even where schools have been able to provide quality education, they have failed to provide equal opportunities for boys and girls to learn the skills they need to thrive in today’s economy.

The evidence suggests that a more gender-equal workplace is more effective, productive and healthy than a more sexist one. In fact, through the attraction, selection and attrition processes, individuals will be more likely to stay in an organization that is markedly sexist than in one where gender equality is higher (Kochhar and others, 2021; Sahay and others, 2018; Cihak and Sahay, 2020). A growing body of research also shows that lowering gender inequality brings substantial macroeconomic benefits, including stronger economic growth and financial stability, increased job creation and reduced income inequality (Kochhar and others, 2017; Kosova and others, 2021). These findings support the case for continued and scaled-up efforts to address the remaining gender gaps.