How Women's Empowerment Enhance Economic Growth?

The early 1900s labor struggles for improved working conditions and women's right to work blossomed into International Women's Day, which was officially acknowledged by the United Nations in 1977. Now, more than ever, attention to gender has never been more important, as the ongoing epidemic puts female roles in the job market in jeopardy.

The benefits of equality, such as increased production and financial stability, have been regularly highlighted in IMF studies. To commemorate International Women's Day, we've compiled a list of our most recent gender-related blogs, podcasts, and studies.

Why are there so many jobs but so few workers?

Long-term school closures and a lack of childcare resources place an additional stress on mothers of small children, prompting many of them to leave the workforce—a phenomenon known as "she-cession." According to a new IMF staff research report, excess employment contraction for mothers of children under the age of 5 accounted for about 16% of the total employment gap in the United States relative to pre-pandemic levels.

Tax Policy and Gender Equality: How Does Tax Policy Affect Gender Equality?

New research looks at household taxation, capital and wealth taxes, as well as consumption taxes, to look at hidden and explicit gender biases and corrective taxation.

Taking legislative steps to remove legal barriers to women's economic empowerment: Laws can frequently reinforce gender stereotypes that limit women's economic involvement. Staff describe the many sorts of legislative impediments to women's economic empowerment in a recent working paper and discuss how changes like parental leave might successfully promote gender equality and incentivize women to work.

How Domestic Violence Jeopardizes Economic Growth:

During the lockdowns and societal unrest, a rise in physical, sexual, and mental abuse of women and girls has been dubbed the "shadow epidemic." New study from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) demonstrates how such violence jeopardises economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. According to estimates based on satellite data on evening lighting, a 1% increase in violence against women can lower economic activity by up to 8%.

Jayati Ghosh, an economics professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, describes how our understanding of productivity is distorted since gross domestic product metrics fail to incorporate unpaid labour done by women, especially caring for children, the elderly, and other groups.

Promoting Gender Equality via Climate Action:

When climate adaptation interventions overlook gender inequities, such as restricted access to education and work, new forms of exclusion emerge. For F&D, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the UK's international champion on adaptation and resilience for the COP26 chair, explains why women and girls are more sensitive to climate change's consequences and pay a larger price.

Lisa D. Cook discusses how racism and sexism harm everyone. Professor of economics and international relations at Michigan State University, who was recently appointed to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, discusses her research on how violence impacts creativity and economic progress. Cook made her name as a black woman economist in a field dominated by white males, with groundbreaking studies on how racism, misogyny, and violence affect economies.

COVID-19: The Mom's Emergency:

Estimates from the International Monetary Fund indicate the pandemic's disproportionate impact on working moms. Women with small children have lost more jobs than other women and men, according to data from three countries: the United States, the United Kingdom, and Spain.