How to Reduce Gender Inequality

Gender inequality is one of the largest and most persistent forms of human inequality, and it affects the wellbeing of half the world’s population. It reflects gender bias and social norms that restrict women’s rights, opportunities, and welfare. Gender inequality has also significant economic costs and implications for society.

As a result, the need to address gender gaps is urgent. Some of these gaps reflect direct harmful actions against women (including violence and harassment, as well as restrictions on women’s behaviors, legal or otherwise), but others represent a misallocation of human capital that can only be addressed by policies focused on eliminating gender bias/social norms.

Moreover, there is growing empirical evidence that reducing gender inequality has important collateral benefits. For example, policies that reduce gender gaps in education and financial access help to lower income inequality overall. In addition, policies that increase women’s participation in the labor market have a positive impact on productivity and economic growth.

It is clear that reducing gender gaps is key to the global economy’s sustainable development, and that tackling these gaps requires action by all stakeholders. While there is some debate over the specific policy tools to tackle this problem, it is generally agreed that the best approach is a multidimensional approach that combines both addressing the root causes of these gaps as well as investing in women’s skills and capacity.

One of the challenges in addressing gender gaps is the lack of adequate data and reliable information on different aspects of the situation, especially at the country level. In recent years, a lot of progress has been made to improve the availability of gender disaggregated data. For instance, the IMF’s Financial Access Survey now reports on financial inclusion by gender, and the new World Development Indicators from the World Bank group include many statistics by gender. However, more work is needed in enhancing the quality of this information and its dissemination.

Policy actions that directly target the root causes of gender gaps would have the most powerful impact. These include educational programs, information campaigns, and legislative reforms that promote gender equality. These initiatives, although not a panacea, can help change the way people think about gender inequalities and thus influence behavior.

However, such interventions may not be immediately available for countries in low income situations, or may not be effective at changing gender norms in societies that are deeply entrenched in discrimination against women. Hence, it is important to incorporate gender analysis into the design of a wide range of policies and to measure their impact.

Gender inequality has many negative consequences for individuals, households, and the global economy, but it is also difficult to resolve. The good news is that it can be reduced through collective efforts by all stakeholders, including governments and the private sector. This will ultimately benefit women, their children, and the entire global economy by ensuring full human potential and economic growth. Gender inequality should be considered a non-zero-sum game: if there is less gender discrimination, there will also be more jobs and opportunity for men, as well as more investment in children’s future, and a stronger economy.