The World Labor Organization publishes an alarming note on gender inequalities in the workplace. A new indicator shows that women have much more difficulty accessing work than men.
It is much more difficult for a woman than for a man to have access to employment. This is shown by a new indicator published by the ILO, the International Labor Organization.
The “jobs deficit”, as this new indicator is called, paints a much bleaker picture of women’s situation in the world of work than does the more commonly used unemployment rate. It shows that women still have much more difficulty finding a job than men and that the situation has barely improved over the past two decades.
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15% of women of working age would like to have a job but don’t have one
This indicator takes into account all people who are unemployed but wish to find one. Worldwide, 15% of women of working age would like to have a job, but don’t. Against only 10.5% of men. This employment deficit is particularly serious in developing countries, where the proportion of women unable to find a job reaches 25%, compared to 16% for men.
This measure is different from that of the unemployment rate: to be declared unemployed, one must actively seek employment and be available for short-term work. But personal and family responsibilities, including unpaid care work, weigh disproportionately on women, writes the International Labor Organization. This means that many women looking for a job are not taken into account in the unemployment figures. This is what economists call “the halo of unemployment”.
One dollar for half
This situation has repercussions on women’s incomes: according to the ILO, for every dollar earned by a man, a woman earns only 51 cents.
In low-income countries, the gap is widening: women can only earn 33 cents on the dollar for men. In high-income countries, they earn only 58 cents on the dollar. Findings that make the ILO say that it is urgent to close the glaring gaps that women face in terms of job quality.