Closing the gender gap at work would lead to an increase of around 8% of the wealth of Spain in 40 years

“Gender equality is not only a moral imperative: it can also translate into employment and economic growth”, asserts the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in its latest report on the matter. Without going any further, closing the gap that exists between men and women in the labor market could mean, in 40 years, an additional increase of 9.2% on average in the wealth of the 38 countries that make up the organization; 8% in Spain.

Eliminating the inequalities that still persist between men and women in terms of wages or working hours would give a significant boost to the countries' productivity. According to the OECD, there are two “challenges” that are causing “a reduction in the labor force in many countries”: the aging of the population and the decline in fertility rates.. For this reason, the organization points out that boosting female employment could be a “crucial factor” to “maintain economic growth and living standards in the coming decades.”

Specifically, the document calculates that equating the activity rate and working time of women to that of men would increase the per capita GDP of all countries by 9.2% by 2060; with an increase of an additional 0.23 percentage points per year. In the case of Spain, this increase would be somewhat less than the OECD average, although equally significant: 0.21 percentage points per year and around an 8% increase in GDP per capita over the next four decades.

The scenarios are considerably different depending on the country in question depending on the underlying gender gaps in each territory. For example, those countries with deeper gaps —both in labor activity and in working hours— could experience a much more notable boost than those with lower inequality figures.. This is the case of Colombia, Costa Rica or Turkey, where the OECD calculates that wealth could increase by around 0.40 points per year, until reaching a growth of between 17 and 20% higher than expected for 2060.. The same would happen with Mexico, which with an annual increase of 0.52 points could add 22% of wealth to its GDP in 40 years.

On the other hand, countries with much smaller gender gaps would experience a much more moderate boost to their wealth, “but still notable”, highlights the document to which 20min had access.. Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia, for example, could add between 2 and 3% to their economic output.

“Missed Opportunities”

In the report published this Tuesday, the organization urges countries to take measures to move towards equality between men and women, both in the labor market and in education, in business and public life.. They, the document maintains, continue to be underrepresented in positions of power and leadership, where decisions that affect them are made, and yet they spend a “disproportionate amount of time” on domestic chores and unpaid care.

“This complicates their participation in the labor market, especially once they become mothers,” the text underlines.. The result is that women end up having, in general, lower employment rates, work fewer hours per week, are often conditioned by prejudices that classify them in one sector or another, and face “glass ceilings”. persistent” which, in the end, implies a lower salary than their colleagues.

All these factors end up having an impact on earnings throughout life and on women's pensions, which, the experts in the study specify, “mean lost opportunities for job creation, growth and innovation, which affects to the whole economy.”

They work five hours less per week

And it is that, despite the improvements promoted in terms of reconciliation by the majority of countries, women continue to dedicate five hours less a week to work than their colleagues. “Mothers are still disproportionately long absent from the labor market after giving birth,” the text states.. In addition, even when they return to their jobs, the burden of care often implies that they have to opt for a part-time job and, therefore, give up promoting or earning more.

This is demonstrated by the data, which despite everything does reflect a certain improvement compared to 2010: on average, in the OECD, women work 5.3 hours less per week than men (6.5 in 2010).. In Spain, the figure drops to five hours (which represents an improvement of one point compared to 2010).. Switzerland, the Netherlands and Costa Rica are the countries with the most pronounced gaps (9.8, 9.1 and 8.5, respectively).

Regarding the female activity rate (the percentage of employees among people of working age), the female activity rate in Spain during the fourth quarter of 2022 was 59.4%, compared to 69.2% for men. Data slightly worse than the OECD average, which indicates a female activity rate of 66.7% (from 76.6 for men).