Gender at Work

A Companion to the
World Development Report on Jobs

In the
World of
Work
Cover photos from top to bottom:
Construction worker checking progress and quality of dam under construction, Sri Lanka. Photographer Lakshman Nadaraja
Woman attends her produce post in a market, Guatemala City, Guatemala. Photographer Maria Fleischmann
Young woman tending her peppers in the marketplace, Lagos, Nigeria. Photographer Women’s World Banking
Stall owner, Thimphu weekend market, Bhutan. Photographer Michael Foley
Teacher in action, Rajasthan, India. Photographer Michael Foley

Page 1: Women repairing a road, Hanoi. Photographer Tran Thi Hoa

Page 5: Woman works at weaving a carpet, Herat, Afghanistan. Photographer Graham Crouch
Page 17: Woman tends to plants in a nursery, Sri Lanka. Photographer Lakshman Nadaraja
Page 33: Woman works on her farm, Tanzania. Photographer Scott Wallace
Page 53: Woman cutting bamboo to weave into baskets, Vientiane, Lao PDR. Photographer Stanislas Fradelizi

This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank Group with external contributions. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not
necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy
of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on
the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Nothing herein shall constitute or be
considered to be a limitation upon or waiver of the privileges and immunities of The World Bank, all of which are specifically reserved.
Gender at Work
A Companion to the
World Development Report on Jobs

In the
World of
Work
 Table of Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Foreword ix

Executive Summary 1
Gender Equality in the World of Work Matters 1
Where Do We Stand? 1
Overlapping Disadvantages and Gender Equality at Work 2
Igniting Gender Equality in the World of Work 3
Notes 4

1. Introduction: Engendering Jobs 5

Context: Gender and the Jobs Challenge 5
Motivation: Inadequate Progress and Missed Dividends for Development 6
Report Scope, Approach, and Value Added 8
Two Paradoxes Surrounding Equality at Work 10
A Note on Male Disadvantage 11
Context Matters 12
Notes 13

2. Taking Stock: Stylized Facts About Gender at Work 17

Employment Status and Quality 18
Earnings 22
Differences in Entrepreneurship and Farming 24
Labor Force Participation 25
Notes 28

3. Overlapping Constraints Across the Lifecycle 33

Bundled Constraints: Norms, Agency, and Economic Opportunities 34
Childhood and Youth: The Start of Unequal Trajectories 38
Productive Age: Constraints at Work 40
Elderly Years: The Culmination of Lifelong Disadvantage 45
Notes 46

4. Igniting Gender Equality in the World of Work 53

Diagnostics 54
Three Levels of Action 55
Conclusions 72
Notes 72
iv   Gender at Work

Boxes
Box 1.1. How gender equality in the world of work contributes to development 7
Box 1.2. Regional perspectives on challenges and opportunities for gender equality at work 12
Box 2.1. To better understand gender at work 19
Box 2.2. Gender and informality: nuanced perspectives are needed 21
Box 3.1. Norms favor men’s economic opportunities, but can policies change them? 36
Box 3.2. Fragility, gender, and jobs 39
Box 4.1. Beyond having a job: gender and the Decent Work Agenda 55
Box 4.2. Navigating the many policy options for childcare services and financing 61
Box 4.3. Companies can help level the playing field for women’s work through corporate philanthropy 66
Box 4.4. Starting from within: The World Bank Group and gender equality at work 68

Resource Box 2.1. Where do countries stand? Global and regional rankings
on gender equality and women’s economic empowerment 28
Resource Box 3.1. Data sources on deprivations and constraints 47
Resource Box 4.1. Using ADePT Gender to support country diagnostics 57
Resource Box 4.2. Identifying what works 65
Resource Box 4.3. Resources for private sector engagement and leadership 69

Figures
Figure 1.1. Female labor force participation has increased dramatically in Latin America and the Caribbean 8
Figure 1.2. Gender outcomes result from interactions among markets, institutions, and households 9
Figure 1.3. Countries range widely in the extent of gender gaps in economic opportunities
despite levels of development 10
Figure 1.4. In the Middle East and North Africa, not much improvement in female labor force
participation despite gains in schooling 11
Figure 2.1. A multidimensional perspective to gender equality in the world of work is needed 18
Figure 2.2. Women are underrepresented in every type of employment, with greater gaps
in developing countries 19
Figure 2.3. Women are generally less likely to be full-time employed for an employer 20
Figure 2.4. Women’s employment is more likely to be part-time 20
Figure 2.5. Employment status by sex and income level 22
Figure 2.6. Women are underrepresented in firms’ top management 23
Figure 2.7. Country differences exceed gender differences in attitudes toward women’s leadership ability 23
Figure 2.8. Distribution of self-employed jobs in 97 developing countries 24
Figure 2.9. Women are less likely than men to have formal accounts and credit 26
Figure 2.10. Gender gaps in labor force participation for different age groups 27
Figure 3.1. Biased norms and lack of agency across the lifecycle affect equality at work 34
Figure 3.2. Main reasons given by young women in Morocco for not wanting to work, 2010 35
Figure 3.3. Women face overlapping constraints (percentages of women facing constraints) 37
Figure 3.4. Women are doubly disadvantaged by gender and ethnicity 39
Figure 3.5. Even where gender parity is reached in higher education, segregation persists 41
Figure 3.6. There is little evidence of female underperformance in subjects often dominated by men 41
Figure 3.7. Gender-based time allocations have changed in industrialized countries,
signaling shifting norms 42
Figure 3.8. The share of elderly people is growing rapidly in developing countries 43
Figure 3.9. Percentage of countries with different numbers of sex-based legal differentiations
by regions, and regional averages across countries 44
 Table of Contents   v

Figure 3.10. Elderly women in India are less independent than elderly men 46
Figure 4.1. Igniting equality at work: World Bank Group entry points 54
Figure 4.2. Both broad-based and targeted actions across the lifecycle can contribute to gender
equality in the world of work 58
Figure 4.3. Implementing STEP as an integrated set of programs across workers’ lifecycles 59
Figure 4.4. Enrollment of children in preprimary education remains very low in low-income countries 62

Figure Box 3.1A. Share of the population agreeing that when jobs are scarce, a man should have
more of a right to a job than a woman 36
Figure Box 3.1B. Discriminating norms are associated with few women working 36

Tables
Table 4.1. Diagnosing constraints across the lifecycle 56
Table 4.2. Indicators where urgent action is needed to close data gaps 70
Acknowledgments

This report has been the work of the World Bank Group’s The team would also like to acknowledge Kathleen Beegle,
Gender and Development unit. The task was led by Matthew Sarah Iqbal, Leora Klapper, and Claudio Montenegro for their co-
Morton. The report was prepared under the guidance of Jeni operation; Henriette Kolb, Martin Rama, and Carolina Sanchez-
Klugman (Director, Gender and Development). The main con- Paramo for their work in conducting peer reviews; and the World
tributors to the writing and analyses were Jeni Klugman, Lucia Bank Group Gender and Development Board members and
Hanmer, and Dorothe Singer. The team is also grateful to several others for useful review comments and input. Communications
other individuals—including Julieth Andrea Santamaria Bonilla, coordination has been led by Sarah Jackson-Han and administra-
Alicia Samantha Hammond, Sveinung Kiplesund, Josefina Posa- tive support has been provided by Ngozi Kalu-Mba.
das, Emma Samman, and Sarah Twigg—for important contribu-
tions to specific sections and analyses.
 Foreword

Today, many more girls are going to school and living longer, Public and private policies and actions can promote equality
healthier lives than 30 or even 10 years ago. That was the good over a lifetime. This includes education and training during youth
news in our flagship 2012 World Development Report on gender. and creating opportunities for women to participate in paid work
But this has not translated into broader gains. Too many women during their economically productive years. It extends to imple-
still lack basic freedoms and opportunities and face huge inequali- menting equitable old-age labor regulations combined with ap-
ties in the world of work. Globally, fewer than half of women have propriate social protection later in life. We need leadership and
jobs, compared with almost four-fifths of men. Girls and women innovation as well as scaled-up efforts to fill critical gaps in knowl-
still learn less, earn less, and have far fewer assets and opportuni- edge and evidence, from the private sector, governments, science,
ties. They farm smaller plots, work in less profitable sectors, and and media—and individuals. This agenda is urgent. Failure to act
face discriminatory laws and norms that constrain their time and represents a huge missed opportunity. We know that reducing
choices, as well as their ability to own or inherit property, open a gender gaps in the world of work can yield broad development
bank account, or take out a loan—to buy fertilizer, for example, dividends: improving child health and education, enhancing pov-
that would boost food production for whole communities. erty reduction, and catalyzing productivity.
Gender at Work looks closely at existing constraints as well as Empowering women and girls is vital in order to achieve our twin
policies and practices that show promise in closing the gaps. A goals: ending extreme poverty by 2030 and boosting shared pros-
companion to the 2013 World Development Report on jobs, the perity. The World Bank Group is fully committed to this agenda.
report advocates investing more in women’s capabilities and elim-
inating structural barriers such as laws that bar women from own-
ing property, accessing financing, or working without permission Jim Yong Kim
from a male relative. President, The World Bank Group
 Executive Summary

Gender Equality in the World of Work Matters

Jobs can bring gains for women, their families, businesses, and communities.
Jobs boost self-esteem and pull families out of poverty. Yet gender disparities persist in
the world of work. Closing these gaps, while working to stimulate job creation more
broadly, is a prerequisite for ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity.
Gender equality in the world of work is a win-win on many fronts. A large
and growing body of evidence demonstrates both the business and the development
case. Booz & Company estimates that raising female employment to male levels
could have a direct impact on GDP, increasing it by 34 percent in Egypt, 12 percent
in the United Arab Emirates, 10 percent in South Africa, and 9 percent in Japan,
taking into account losses in economy-wide labor productivity that could occur as
new workers entered the labor force.1 Yet almost half of women’s productive poten-
tial globally is unutilized, compared to 22 percent of men’s, according to the Inter-
national Labour Organization.2 In places where women’s paid work has increased,
as in Latin America and the Caribbean, gains have made significant contributions
to overall poverty reduction.
Both the World Development Report 2013 on Jobs (WDR 2013) and the World
Development Report 2012 on Gender Equality and Development (WDR 2012)
provide valuable and complementary frameworks to help policy makers advance
gender equality in the world of work. The WDR 2013 approach helps us to under-
stand how and when promoting gender equality in the world of work adds significant
development value. The WDR 2012, meanwhile, offers an important framework for
diagnosing and addressing gender-specific constraints. An important link between
the two WDRs is the notion of agency—women’s ability to make choices they value
and to act on those choices. Jobs can increase women’s agency by expanding their life
choices and their capacity to better support their families and more actively partici-
pate in communities and societies. Conversely, significant constraints on agency pose
major barriers to women’s work and help explain the persistence of gender gaps.
Following the WDR 2013, “jobs” are broadly defined to include various
forms of wage and non-wage work, formal and informal. Informal work is the
largest source of employment throughout Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, and
working women are more likely than working men to be self-employed or farming.
The jobs that are best for women’s economic empowerment—and development
goals more broadly—depend on country-specific jobs challenges.

Where Do We Stand?
Gender equality in the world of work is multidimensional. Broadly, key
dimensions include labor force participation, employment, firm and farming
2   Gender at Work

characteristics, earnings, and job quality. The last is the most valuable framework for understanding the challenges. It high-
difficult to measure and varies by context. However, full-time lights key outcome areas—agency, endowments, and economic
wage employment is a strong predictor of subjective well-be- opportunities—and underscores the fact that disparities are
ing, and jobs that provide higher earnings, benefits, rights, and driven by multiple constraints that arise in formal and infor-
opportunities for skills development are more likely to expand mal institutions, markets, and households. The constraints are
women’s agency. most severe among women who face other disadvantages, such
On virtually every global measure, women are more eco- as being a member of an ethnic minority, having a disability, or
nomically excluded than men. Trends suggest that women’s la- being poor.
bor force participation (ages 15–64) worldwide over the last two Social norms are a key factor underlying deprivations and
decades has stagnated, declining from 57 to 55 percent globally. constraints throughout the lifecycle. Norms affect women’s
Participation is as low as 25 percent in the Middle East and North work by dictating the way they spend their time and underval-
Africa. Globally, Gallup estimates that men are nearly twice as uing their potential. Housework, child-rearing, and elderly care
likely as women to have full-time jobs—and, in South Asia, they are often considered primarily women’s responsibility. Further,
are more than three times as likely.3 nearly four in 10 people globally (close to one-half in developing
Gender gaps are evident among farmers, entrepreneurs, and countries) agree that, when jobs are scarce, men should have more
employees alike. Because of gender-specific constraints, female right to jobs than women.9 Research shows that women are fre-
farmers tend to have lower output per unit of land and are less quently disadvantaged by gender biases in performance and hiring
likely to be active in commercial farming than men. In the Cen- evaluations.10
tral Highlands of Ethiopia, the value of output per hectare of fe- Jobs can increase women’s agency, but a lack of agency also
male-headed households has been estimated to be 35 percent lower restricts women’s job opportunities. In most developing coun-
than that of male-headed households, a disparity stemming mainly tries, women have fewer choices in fundamental areas of day-to-
from unequal access to productive inputs.4 Female entrepreneurs day life, including their own movements, sexual and reproductive
typically operate smaller firms and in less profitable sectors. In health decisions, ability to use household assets, and whether and
Latin America and the Caribbean, half of established businesses when to go to school, work, or participate in other economic-re-
owned by women have no employees, compared to 38 percent of lated activities. Further, a large proportion of women in the world
businesses owned by men.5 Female employees are more likely to lack freedom from violence. The World Health Organization es-
work in temporary and part-time jobs, are less likely to be pro- timates that more than 35 percent of women have experienced
moted, and are concentrated in occupations and sectors with lower gender-based violence.11 Without addressing these critical con-
barriers to entry. Women and girls also do the vast majority of straints on agency, women cannot take full advantage of potential
unpaid care and housework. economic opportunities.
Women generally earn less than men. ILO analysis of 83 Inequalities in endowments and assets contribute to gaps
countries shows that women in paid work earn on average be- in the world of work. While there has been important progress
tween 10 and 30 percent less than men.6 Gaps are particularly globally, in some countries fundamental deprivations persist. In
acute in the Middle East and North Africa, but also persist in 2010–12, female-to-male enrollment ratios for primary school
high-income OECD countries. were less than 90 percent in 16 countries, mainly in Africa,
Gender sorting into different jobs, industries, and firm types and some 57 million primary school age children were not en-
explains much of the pay gap. Throughout the world, women rolled.12 Many women lack access to land and financial capital.
are concentrated in less-productive jobs and run enterprises in Other deep-seated differences also persist. For example, young
less-productive sectors, with fewer opportunities for business women and men often follow different educational streams and
scale-up or career advancement. The latest Grant Thornton In- develop differences in aspirations and skills that underlie occu-
ternational Business Report indicates that the share of women in pational segregations later in life. A wider account of productive
senior management roles globally is only 24 percent.7 Across de- inputs shows women disadvantaged in areas such as access to
veloping countries, 18 percent of non-agricultural self-employed financial services, technology, training, information, and social
males work in business-oriented services, compared to only 5 per- networks.
cent of females; women are more heavily concentrated in retail Legal discrimination is a remarkably common barrier to
services, often in the informal sector.8 women’s work. Of 143 economies, 128 had at least one legal dif-
ferentiation in 2013.13 These barriers include restricting women’s
ability to access institutions (such as obtaining an ID card or con-
Overlapping Disadvantages and Gender
ducting official transactions), own or use property, build credit,
Equality at Work or get a job. In 15 countries, women still require their husbands’
Gender-smart jobs strategies need to identify and address consent to work. In many economies, especially in the Middle
multiple deprivations and constraints that underlie gender East and North Africa, women face the cumulative effects of mul-
inequality in the world of work. The WDR 2012 provides a tiple legal constraints.
 Executive Summary   3

Igniting Gender Equality in the World of barriers to women’s work is

Agency is the ability to
Work key to leveling the playing
field. Reforms should focus make one’s own choices
While there are no “magic formulas,” effectively tackling gen- on removing restrictions to and act upon them.
der inequality at work is likely to be an integral part of addressing women’s work in labor and
country jobs challenges. Overcoming gender inequality involves employment; removing un-
understanding local specificities and developing bold, coordinated equal status provisions, such as head-of-household provisions, in
actions to address multiple constraints. It requires investments in family law; allowing and encouraging women’s ownership and
people’s skills and capabilities, and supporting their abilities to joint-titling of land; enforcing equitable inheritance laws; and
contribute to higher productivity activities and economy-wide applying nondiscrimination principles to customary laws. Most
competitiveness over their life cycles. Four broad areas are likely countries have made significant progress toward more equita-
to be important. ble laws over recent decades, but there has been less progress in
1. Integrate gender into jobs diagnostics. Growth and labor some regions, notably in the Middle East and North Africa and
market country diagnostics can identify the gender-specific con- in South Asia.
straints that women face in accessing productive jobs. A joint World Beyond addressing legal discrimination, targeted policies can
Bank and Asian Development Bank gender assessment for Lao PDR address more subtle constraints. Strategies can include family-
found persistent wage gaps and self-employed women running friendly leave and flexibility policies, extending affordable child-
smaller businesses. These diagnostics led to growth strategy recom- care and early child development programs, and developing tech-
mendations focused on improving access to finance and business nology and infrastructure to reduce burdens on women’s time for
training for women entrepreneurs. A gender assessment in Vietnam household chores and care work. The World Bank estimates that
identified adverse impacts of gender differences in statutory retire- adding one year of preschool education in Turkey, for example,
ment ages and outlined policy options for addressing the problem. could increase female labor force participation by 9 percent.17 Fa-
2. Level the playing field through government actions across ther-friendly leave policies in the UK and Nordic countries have
the lifecycle. Biases can begin very early in life, sometimes in sub- strengthened opportunities and incentives for men to share in
tle ways, and start trajectories of inequality that become increas- domestic responsibilities. A World Bank-supported program in
ingly difficult and costly to resolve. Policy actions across the lifecy- Cambodia reduced women’s time devoted to collecting firewood
cle to advance gender equality in the world of work will typically and increased their incomes by selling low-cost, fuel-efficient
include both (a) broad-based actions that, while benefiting every- cookstoves through local female vendors.18
one, may have an even greater impact on women’s economic op- During elderly years, governments can support equitable
portunities (such as early childhood development programming old-age labor regulations combined with appropriate social
or reducing inefficiencies to business registration) as well as (b) protection. The importance of this demographic cannot be ig-
targeted actions to remove or offset gender-specific constraints. nored. In developing countries, the old-age dependency ratio is
The report discusses evidence behind a wider range of targeted expected to increase by 144 percent from 2010 to 2050, whereas
actions, but selected examples are highlighted here. the child dependency ratio is projected to fall by 20 percent during
During childhood and youth, policy actions can tackle in- the same period. This translates to increased elderly care responsi-
equalities through education and training. A growing body of bilities for productive age women, as well as potential challenges
evidence demonstrates the value of cash transfers with special in- for elderly people themselves. Many governments have removed
centives as a demand-side tool for boosting equality in schooling. differences in retirement and pension ages, but gaps remain in
Examples of supply-side strategies that have shown positive results 49 countries. World Bank analysis showed that mandatory earlier
by addressing gender-specific constraints include increasing the retirement causes early labor force withdrawal of urban women
proximity of schools to homes in Afghanistan and building “girl- in China.19 In developing countries, many elderly women are
friendly” schools in Burkina Faso that improve facilities and in- outside the scope of formal social protection—although studies
centives for girls’ education while engaging parents and teachers.14 in Brazil and South Africa have shown that pensions received by
Education systems can challenge stereotypes through curricula. elderly women significantly increased granddaughters’ education
Tanzania’s national curriculum includes substantial gender-related and health.20 More policy experimentation is needed on interven-
material in its secondary school civics syllabus and examinations.15 tions for updating older women’s and men’s skills and increasing
Multicomponent skills-development programs can also make a connections to the labor market.
difference. A World Bank-supported youth employment program 3. Proactive private sector leadership and innovation for
in Liberia that included vocational and life skills training, along gender equality. The private sector accounts for about three out
with job placement help, boosted young women’s employment by of four jobs in countries like Egypt, Finland, and France and nine
47 percent and average weekly earnings by 80 percent.16 out of 10 jobs in countries such as Brazil, Chile, Japan, and South
For women of productive age, actions can focus on remov- Africa. With International Finance Corporation (IFC) support,
ing barriers to getting paid work. Eliminating legal and formal commercial banks in Cambodia, Nigeria, and Romania, among
4   Gender at Work

other countries, are increasing their female clientele,21 and com- 7. Grant Thornton. 2013. Women in senior management: Setting the stage
panies in male-dominated sectors, such as chemicals and con- for growth. Washington, DC: Grant Thornton.
struction, are increasing women’s access to jobs through more 8. Authors’ calculations based on World Values Survey data.
concerted recruitment and family-friendly work arrangements. 9. Gender at Work team analyses of World Values Survey data.
Multinational firms have increased profitability in South Korea by 10. Bohnet, I., van Geen A., Bazerman M. When performance trumps gender
actively recruiting women for local managerial positions.22 While bias: joint versus separate evaluations. Cambridge.
success stories are encouraging, a focus on gender equality is still
11. World Health Organization (WHO). 2013. Global and regional esti-
all too rare. ManpowerGroup surveys report that only 2 percent mates of violence against women: Prevalence and health effects of intimate part-
of employers across 42 countries have adopted strategies to recruit ner violence and non-partner sexual violence. Geneva: WHO.
more women.23 12. World Development Indicators. Countries include Afghanistan, An-
Private and public sector actors can form powerful partnerships gola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Cote
to support women’s entrepreneurship, which in turn contributes d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Guinea, Mali,
Niger, Pakistan, and Yemen.
to growth and a dynamic private sector. Women’s entrepreneur-
ship can be fostered through a combination of increased access to 13. World Bank Group. Women, Business and the Law 2014. Washington,
capital, networks, and new markets; high-quality business skills DC: World Bank.
and development training; and access to broader services that off- 14. Burde, D. and L. Linden. 2009. The effect of proximity on school
set gender-specific constraints. enrolment: evidence from a randomized controlled trial in Afghanistan; Ka-
zianga, H., D. Levy, et al. 2013. “The Effects of “Girl-Friendly” Schools: Ev-
4. Global action is needed to fill knowledge gaps about both idence from the BRIGHT School Construction Program in Burkina Faso.”
the problems of, and the solutions to, gender inequality in the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 5 (3): 41.
world of work. This involves addressing data gaps in such areas as 15. Levtov, R. Forthcoming. “Addressing Gender Inequalities in Curric-
earnings disparities, control over assets, and gender-based violence ulum and Education: Review of Literature and Promising Practices.” Back-
in homes and workplaces. But it also means contributing to stron- ground paper to the World Bank’s report on Women’s Voice, Agency & Par-
ger evidence on what works for increasing gender equality in the ticipation. Washington, DC: World Bank.
world of work. The World Bank recently launched enGENDER 16. Adoho, S. C., D. T. Korkoyah, et al. Forthcoming. “The Impact of
IMPACT, a gateway to its gender-related impact evaluations. This an Adolescent Girls Employment Program: The EPAG project in Liberia.”
effort complements gender innovation and evaluation initiatives Washington, DC: World Bank.
in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean, and 17. World Bank. 2013. Programmatic Concept Note: Turkey: Women’s Access
efforts by the IFC to highlight good business practices. to Economic Opportunities in Turkey Trust Fund (P146215): Supplementary
Description. Washington, DC: World Bank.
18. World Bank. 2009. “Building on Tradition as the Way to Women’s Em-
Notes powerment in Cambodia.” East Asia and Pacific Region Social Development
1. Aguirre, D., L. Hoteit, et al. 2012. Empowering the Third Billion: Notes. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Women and the World of Work in 2012. New York: Booz & Co. 19. Giles, J., et al. 2011. “The Labor Supply and Retirement Behavior of
2. International Labour Office (ILO). 2010. “Women in labour mar- China’s Older Workers and Elderly in Comparative Perspective.” Policy Re-
kets: Measuring progress and identifying challenges.” Geneva: ILO. search Working Paper 5853. Washington, DC: World Bank.
[Link] 20. Filho, I. E. 2012. “Household Income as a Determinant of Child Labor
-Women2010_123835.pdf. and School Enrollment in Brazil: Evidence from a Social Security Reform.”
3. Marlar, J. and E. Mendes. 2013. “Globally, Men Twice as Likely as Economic Development and Cultural Change 60 (2): 399–435.; Duflo, E.
Women to Have a Good Job.” Retrieved October 10, 2013, from http:// 2003. “Grandmothers and Granddaughters: Old‐Age Pensions and Intra-
[Link]/poll/164666/globally-men-twice-likely-women-good-job. household Allocation in South Africa.” World Bank Economic Review 17 (1):
aspx; Clifton, J., and J. Marlar. 2011. “Worldwide, Good Jobs Linked to 1–25; Case, A. and A. Menendez. 2007. “Does money empower the elderly?
Higher Wellbeing.” Retrieved June 1, 2013, from [Link] Evidence from the Agincourt demographic surveillance site, South Africa.”
/poll/146639/[Link]. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health 35 (69 suppl.): 157–64.
4. Tiruneh, A., T. Tesfaye, W. Mwangi, and H. Verkuijl. 2001. Gender 21. IFC. 2013. Banking on Women: Changing the Face of the Global Econ-
Differentials in Agricultural Production and Decision-Making Among Small- omy. Washington, DC: IFC.
holders in Ada, Lume and Gimbichu Woredas of the Central Highlands of Ethio- 22. Siegel, J., L. Pyun, et al. 2013. Multinational Firms, Labor Market
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Report.[Link] 23. ManpowerGroup. 2013. 2013 Talent Shortage Survey: Research Results.
6. ILO. 2008. Global Wage Report 2008–09: Minimum Wages and Col- ManpowerGroup.
lective Bargaining, Towards Policy Coherence. Geneva: ILO.
 Introduction
Engendering Jobs

Key messages

▶▶ Gender inequality is a major part of the global jobs challenge. Appro-

priate responses require leveling the playing field and creating the
types of jobs that can empower women.
▶▶ Reducing gender gaps in the world of work can yield big development
payoffs. These extend beyond benefits to the women themselves,
including spillover effects on children, enhanced poverty reduction,
catalyzing business productivity, and broader social cohesion.
▶▶ Policy strategies geared toward economic growth or increasing general
education levels, although necessary, are generally insufficient to close
gender gaps. Targeted, gender-specific, and multi-sectoral solutions are
also needed to respond to country-specific constraints.
▶▶ Connecting women’s agency with economic opportunities and taking a
lifecycle approach lead to better, more comprehensive policy actions.

Context: Gender and the Jobs Challenge

Today, as ever, the global spotlight remains squarely on jobs. As the World De-
velopment Report 2013: Jobs1 (WDR 2013) underscores, good jobs are not just the
engine of poverty reduction or a derivative of growth—they are transformative in
and of themselves and can help drive development. Yet the challenge is daunting.
Globally, 200 million people—disproportionately youth—are unemployed and ac-
tively looking for work.2 Solving the jobs challenge is critical to achieving the World
Bank Group’s twin goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity.
Underlying this immense task is the challenge of equitable access to economic
opportunities. This has many aspects, including income, racial and ethnic dispari-
ties. This report focuses on one dimension of inequality that is often related to other
aspects of disadvantage. The starting point is the recognition that women are dis-
advantaged globally on virtually every indicator in the world of work3—earnings,
quality of employment, employment status, participation—and that these differ-
ences matter for development.
The global jobs challenge is also about fostering the types of jobs that add the
greatest development value. In many low-income countries, unemployment is low
but underemployment is high, and the available jobs often lack basic rights and pro-
tections, not to mention opportunities for advancement. Only about one in four
of the world’s adult population was employed full-time by an employer in 2012.4
6   Gender at Work

Motivation: Inadequate Progress and agency increase their spectrum of choices and strengthen women’s
Missed Dividends for Development capabilities to act on those choices. Even informal and self-em-
ployed jobs can have positive effects such as increasing aspira-
Gender inequality in the world of work has been stubbornly tions, household decision-making, and control over assets.26 Jobs
persistent across multiple dimensions, despite relatively large can also teach skills, build networks, and change attitudes and
gains in recent decades in women’s health and education.5 The behaviors,27 all of which can improve women’s ability to act on the
evidence presented in chapter 2 shows the persistence of these things they value in life.
gender disparities. For example, women’s labor force participation
has stagnated around 55 percent, and actually fell by two percent- Which jobs are good for women’s agency will vary. For some
age points since 1990. Women remain heavily concentrated into women, a part-time job or small household enterprise close to home
lower-paying jobs, including less-productive and less-profitable are ideal arrangements that provide the flexibility to earn income
while tending to household responsibilities; for other women, they
entrepreneurship and farming, than men. Occupational segrega-
represent poor sources of protection, earnings, and skills-develop-
tion is enduring, as are wage gaps. This lack of progress in eco-
ment and an inadequate range of options. A “good job” can also
nomic opportunities is puzzling. It raises several questions, such
change within a person’s lifetime. A low-wage job without fringe
as: why do these gaps persist? Do gaps simply reflect differences in
benefits, for example, may be desirable as a career entry point and
free choices and preferences between women and men, or are they
opportunity to develop skills, while it may be demoralizing and
better explained by market failures and formal and informal insti-
add little value beyond basic subsistence at a later stage.
tutional biases that constrain women’s choices? Are there examples
at the policy or country levels that stand out as outliers by having Nonetheless, the fact women are disproportionately concen-
made greater progress, and what can we learn from them to en- trated into jobs that offer lower earnings, fewer rights and ben-
courage broader change? These questions are explored in chapters efits, and less opportunity for skill-building and enhancement
3 and 4. means that women are not deriving as much agency from jobs
as men. Jobs among the working poor can even diminish agency
This inequality is costly on multiple levels. It is clear that jobs when they are exploitative or demeaning, because facilities are un-
can add value to people’s lives. They increase people’s incomes, safe, or because they expose workers to harassment and violence.
allowing them to purchase
the goods and services they
Catalyzing business
“Happiness and equality value; and jobs can contrib-
are related. If the husband ute to self-esteem and happi- Companies are increasingly recognizing the business case for
understands that happiness ness.6 One’s ability to choose investing in women’s economic inclusion.28 Gender equality in
is supporting and helping whether to seek a paid job, the world of work generates a broader consumer base. Diversity
his wife in housework and in and what type of work to do, also translates to a bigger and richer talent pool for driving firm
taking care of children, the is itself an important expres- innovation and productivity. Women can additionally bring par-
happiness of the family will be ticular strengths to firms. For instance, some research suggests that
sion of agency (the ability to
reinforced.” women are generally more advanced in negotiating, empathizing,
make choices that one values
and to act on those choices).7 and working behind the scenes to facilitate better cooperation in
—Adult male, Ba Dinh district, the workplace.29
Hanoi, Vietnam, On Norms and Jobs can also be instrumental
Agency in fostering broader empow- Firms can reap significant business payoffs from investments in
erment for women.8 They women and gender diversity:
can teach skills and change ◆◆ Women-friendly work policies have been shown to boost
attitudes, behaviors, and aspirations.9 Even basic informal and firm profitability.30 Channels through which women’s partic-
self-employed jobs, such as microenterprise and casual work with- ipation benefits firms include broadening the talent pool and
out a contract, can advance decision-making power at home and contributing to more diverse—and therefore more innova-
control over assets.10 Women’s economic empowerment is also tive—exchange of ideas.31
smart economics, as it is associated with reduced poverty, faster
◆◆ Gender diversity in senior leadership has been associated
growth, and better economic, health, and educational outcomes
with higher company profits.32 A 2012 Credit Suisse study
for the next generation.11 The WDR 2013 framework for analyz-
of nearly 2,400 companies across the world found that the
ing “good jobs for development” helps us to understand the ways
share prices of companies that have at least one woman on
in which greater gender equality in the world of work can drive
their boards perform 26 percent better than companies that
development (see Box 1.1).
do not. Analysts attribute the better performance of boards
with women to higher risk aversion and lower debt, which
Boosting women’s agency paid off during the global economic downturn.33
Expanding agency is an important way in which jobs contrib- ◆◆ The International Finance Corporation (IFC) recently high-
ute to social cohesion.25 By definition, jobs that expand women’s lighted several cases in which companies profited from en-
 Introduction   7

Box 1.1. How gender equality in the world of work contributes to development
The extent to which gender-specific jobs strategies have de- more informal, can also have multiplier effects on job creation
velopment payoffs, and the focus of those strategies, depends for women. Research in India has found agglomeration effects,
on country circumstances. Broadly, the WDR 2013 defines with women-owned firms benefitting from lower production
three areas in which jobs contribute to development: living costs arising from urban proximity and, in the Middle East and
standards, productivity, and social cohesion. Gender equality North Africa, tending to hire more women.18 In Africa, non-tar-
is important for all three. iff barriers disproportionately push women traders and pro-
ducers into the informal economy, where a lack of access to
Living standards: Jobs can boost living standards through finance, information, and networks jeopardizes their capacity
earnings opportunities that lift people out of poverty, raise to grow and develop businesses.19 Reducing occupational
their consumption levels, and contribute to their broader segregation can also help drive productivity: women are less
well-being. Jobs for women can have especially positive spill- present in many high-growth fields like science, technology,
over effects on poverty reduction through greater spending on and engineering, which are important to countries’ innova-
children’s health and education. A review of 15 studies found tion, connectedness, and competiveness in global markets.20
that increases in women’s earnings and bargaining power typ-
ically12 translate into greater spending on, and results for, chil- Social cohesion: Jobs contribute to social cohesion by shap-
dren’s education and health.13 In India, the National Rural Em- ing values and behaviors, and encouraging trust and civic en-
ployment Guarantee Scheme increased children’s—especially gagement. Fairness, equity, and social inclusion are elements
girls’—time in school as a byproduct of increasing mothers’, considered constitutive of social cohesion.21 In this sense,
but not fathers’, days of employment.14 Women who migrate gender equality is an end in itself. Further, when jobs redefine
for work have also been shown to send larger amounts of re- women’s roles in society, they contribute to a new and more
mittances home, and over a longer time period, compared to inclusive sense of social cohesion. In some societies, basic
male migrants.15 In terms of broader well-being, research has wage-earning jobs can remold women’s image and status in
also found that jobs can increase women’s self-esteem.16 society.22 In the United States, people with exposure to female
management are more likely to prefer a female boss.23 Jobs
Productivity: Low use of women’s potential resulting from can also expand social networks, which tend to be smaller for
gender gaps in entrepreneurship and labor force participation women. In high-crime and conflict-affected situations, high
can pose sizeable drags on aggregate productivity.17 Investing unemployment and underemployment among young men is
in women-owned enterprises, which are typically smaller and a liability for further violence and fragility.24

Closing
gender gaps in high-
Closing Increasing
growth jobs
gender productivity women’s roles in
gaps in firms value chains

Development

Increasing
women’s More equitable
wellbeing norms
LIVING SOCIAL
STANDARDS PRODUCTIVITY COHESION

Spillover effects Expanding women’s

on children networks

Women’s
remittances Boosting rights
to families and agency

Jobs

Source: Adapted from the WDR 2013.

8   Gender at Work

hanced measures to recruit and support women employees. Figure 1.1. Female labor force participation has increased
Finlays Horticulture Kenya, for instance, strengthened poli- dramatically in Latin America and the Caribbean
cies to prevent workplace harassment and introduced wom- 60
58
en’s committees to increase voice. Internal promotion of 57 57 57 57

women resulted in major savings related to advertising costs, 55 55

women in the workforce (%)

55
training and lost productivity, while gender-sensitive policies
slashed absenteeism by 75 percent. In Vietnam, Nalt Textile 51
reduced staff turnover by 10 percent by improving its health 50 49
programs and childcare facilities.34
Given emerging evidence on the business case, the pursuit of
45
gender equality by private sector firms is increasingly understood 43
as a win-win for women, companies, and their communities. The
payoffs imply that companies’ involvement in this agenda is about 40
more than philanthropy or corporate social responsibility. Por- 1990 1995 2000 2005 2012
ter and Kramer (2011) describe investments in gender equality year

as “creating shared value.” When companies help train, prepare, World LAC

and support vulnerable women and men to thrive in the world of

work, they foster a kind of economic value that can promote both Source: World Development Indicators. LAC = Latin America and the
Caribbean.
company success and social progress simultaneously.35

Strengthening development
tial can dramatically reduce poverty levels. Women’s labor force
The business case applies more broadly. The ILO estimates that participation in the region has risen by 35 percent since 1990
almost half (48 percent) of women’s productive potential globally (Figure 1.1), which presents a clear outlier to the lack of progress
is unutilized, compared to about one-fifth (22 percent) of men.36 mentioned above: No other region has enjoyed such a steep in-
As governments struggle to stimulate economic growth, better crease as this in recent decades, and increased participation rates
utilizing this enormous pool of untapped talent is crucial. Al- were highest among low-income women. In 2010, extreme pov-
though aggregate estimates should be interpreted cautiously and erty in the region would have been 30 percent higher and average
in light of their underlying assumptions, a series of studies point income inequality (measured by the Gini coefficient) would have
to significant potential gains: been 28 percent higher were it not for women’s increased income
◆◆ Labor force participation: Booz & Company estimates that through a combination of increased labor earnings, access to pen-
raising female employment to male levels could have a direct sions, and labor force participation between 2000 and 2010.42
net impact on GDP of 34 percent in Egypt, 12 percent in Major drivers of women’s increased labor force participation and
the United Arab Emirates, 10 percent in South Africa, and 9 earnings in the region include increased investments in education
percent in Japan as a result of an increased labor force.37 The alongside the decline of fertility and delays in marriage.
potential gains are highest where female labor force participa- Gaps do remain, including in terms of wages, occupational seg-
tion is relatively low and women are relatively well-educated. regation, and profitability of enterprises. Policies to expand wom-
◆◆ Entrepreneurship: Using a theoretical framework, Cuberes and en’s agency, develop aspirations and marketable skills, increase
Teignier (2012) show that gender gaps in entrepreneurship38 time for market activities, and connect women with productive
can have significant effects on aggregate productivity and re- inputs will be critical to extend progress. Nonetheless, women’s
source allocation. Their model predicts that these effects can contribution to poverty reduction in the region is a powerful illus-
amount to an income loss (in GDP per capita) of between tration of how gender equality in the world of work can influence
4 and 7 percent across geographic regions—the highest loss the development process.
being in the Middle East and North Africa.39
◆◆ Farming: The Food and Agriculture Organization estimates Report Scope, Approach, and Value Added
that developing countries could boost their agricultural out- This report was initiated as a companion to the WDR 2013 on
put between 2.5 and 4 percent by removing the constraints Jobs and builds on key findings and frameworks from both that
that prevent equal yields of land farmed by women and men.40 report and the preceding WDR 2012 on Gender Equality and
World Bank research indicates that reducing time burdens on Development. 43 The value added of this report is to revisit the key
women in Tanzania could increase cash incomes for small- constraints to gender equality in the world of work in light of new
holder coffee and banana growers by 10 percent.41 evidence, and go more deeply into the importance of women’s
The Latin America and the Caribbean region provides a com- agency for boosting their participation in the world of work (and
pelling illustration of how unleashing women’s labor-force poten- vice versa) using a lifecycle perspective.
 Introduction   9

Building on the WDR 2012 and 2013 Frameworks WDR 2012. This report reinforces these connections and reviews
new evidence that connects agency to both endowments and eco-
The WDR 2013 framework helps us to understand how, when,
nomic opportunities. The lifecycle approach helps to illustrate the
and under what circumstances jobs can boost a country’s devel-
connections between agency and equality in the world of work
opment prospects. It emphasizes that the types of jobs that con-
more fully.
tribute most to development will depend on country context,
outlining three “pillars”—living standards, productivity, and so-
cial cohesion—for assessing the development value. It focuses on Sharpening the focus on equality in the world of work
the benefits of women’s work for living standards, drawing on the through agency and the lifecycle
significant body of evidence demonstrating the positive spillover As well as being fundamental to human rights, key aspects of
effects of women’s increased incomes, although all three pillars women’s agency—such as the ability to move freely and freedom
have important gender dimensions. from violence—have direct economic implications. A randomized
The WDR 2012 provides a basis for analyzing the constraints to evaluation, for example, of ProJoven, a youth employment pro-
and corresponding policy entry points to promote gender equal- gram in Peru, showed that incentives to overcome constraints on
ity, including in the world of work. It emphasizes that households women’s time and mobility, and promoting women’s participation
do not always act as unitary decision-makers. Women’s (and in male-dominated vocations significantly improved young wom-
men’s) individual bargaining power is influenced by markets and en’s (but not men’s) employment outcomes and reduced occupa-
institutions. Intra-household bargaining perspectives help us to tional segregation.44
understand why jobs for women can have especially positive de- An agency perspective underpins the phrase “gender equality in
velopment value, and why women and girls’ lack of agency, and the world of work.” The ability to choose whether or not to seek
therefore bargaining power, within the household can pose a bar- paid jobs, and what type of work to do, is itself an important ex-
rier to jobs. This report builds on this framework. As the “cogs pression of agency.45 Agency in the world of work does not mean
and wheels” image in Figure 1.2 illustrates, interactions between that every woman, or every man, should be in paid employment
markets, institutions, and households influence outcomes in eco- or that they should all have particular jobs. The goal is not to re­
nomic opportunities, endowments, and agency. As the framework create the male labor market with women.46 An agency perspec-
suggests, the subcomponents of equality also interact. The con- tive means that women and men enjoy an equal range of choices
tribution of endowments—such as education, land, and financial in the world of work and an equal ability to act on those choices
capital—to economic opportunities was well established in the to realize their own goals.

Figure 1.2. Gender outcomes result from interactions among markets, institutions, and households

Gender Equality
Data & MARKETS
evidence Buyers and sellers
exchange goods
and services. Items
evaluated and ECONOMIC
priced. OPPORTUNITIES
FORMAL
HOUSEHOLDS
INSTITUTIONS
Intra-household
Laws, public AGENCY ENDOWMENTS
bargaining
systems
INFORMAL
INSTITUTIONS
Gender roles,
norms, social
networks

Source: WDR 2012.

10   Gender at Work

Our approach identifies constraints that arise at different life jobs can be necessary but insufficient. Indeed fundamentals such
stages. The patterns that foster low labor force participation, earnings as economic growth and education can increase even as women’s
gaps, and occupational segregation begin early in life and accumulate economic opportunities stagnate.
over time. If girls marry early and drop out of school, they will have
a harder time catching up to their male counterparts in adulthood,
Economic growth does not guarantee gender equality
even with increased access to capital or progressive labor regulations.
If social norms and educational streaming limit girls’ opportunities Because jobs tend to improve with development, and gender in-
and aspirations to become engineers, doctors, or business executives equality is sometimes seen as a symptom of low development, it is
early in life, then the female talent pool for these occupations will sometimes assumed that policy makers should focus on economic
automatically be smaller in the next generation of workers. Although growth and gender equality in work will inevitably improve. Some
framing gender equality in the context of a lifecycle approach is not theoretical arguments suggest that market competition can drive
new,47 it merits renewed attention here in light of findings related out discrimination against women by firms as it is inefficient and
to norms and agency. Both the agency and lifecycle perspectives hence costly.48
reinforce the message that overcoming gender inequality will not The WDR 2012 showed that “economic development is posi-
result from specific, isolated programs, but from a comprehensive tively correlated with the share of female workers in wage employ-
approach that involves multiple sectors and stakeholders. ment and negatively correlated with the share of women in un-
The rest of this chapter helps frame the need for addressing paid work, self-employment, and entrepreneurship.”49 However,
overlapping constraints by illustrating how the fundamentals for the direction of cause-and-effect is difficult to untangle. As more
women enter wage jobs that are more stable and higher paying,
jobs, such as economic growth and education, are insufficient to
they can help to fuel economic growth, while growth brings more
facilitate gender equality in the world of work. It then presents
urbanization and wage jobs that move women out of unpaid and
the business and development motivation for prioritizing wom-
less productive work.
en’s empowerment and gender equality in the world of work.
Figure 1.3 plots GDP per capita against the World Economic
Forum’s Gender Gaps in Economic Participation and Opportu-
Two Paradoxes Surrounding nity subindex—a composite measure reflecting inequality in out-
Equality at Work comes related to labor force participation, wages, earned income,
To help illustrate the importance of a broader approach to un- and high-level and professional jobs (with zero representing total
derstanding gender-specific constraints to gender equality in the inequality). A number of high-income countries, including Japan,
world of work, this section explores how obvious fundamentals for Kuwait and Qatar, have high gender inequality, while, at low lev-

Figure 1.3. Countries range widely in the extent of gender gaps in economic opportunities despite levels of per capita GDP
1.0
(0 = perfect inequality, 1 = perfect equality)

Burundi Mongolia USA Norway

Lesotho Barbados
Economic participation and

0.8 Switzerland
opportunity index score

Uganda Ukraine

Spain
Ethiopia Cape Verde
0.6 Japan Qatar
Mexico
Kuwait
Bangladesh Suriname
UAE
India
Jordan Turkey
0.4 Iran
Pakistan Saudi Arabia

Syria

0.2
2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0
log of per capita GDP

Sources: Hausmann et al. 2013 (y-axis data) and World Development Indicators (x-axis data, latest year available [2011–12]).
 Introduction   11

els of per capita GDP, the variation in the size of gender gaps is Figure 1.4. In the Middle East and North Africa, little
huge. This variance is important. improvement in female labor force participation despite gains
in schooling
Two recent global reviews investigated directions of influence be-
tween economic growth and gender equality. Duflo (2011) found 100

that, although economic development and women’s empowerment

are closely correlated, the connections between the two are too weak 80
to expect that pulling one lever will automatically pull the other.50

percentage
Kabeer and Natali (2013) found that increased gender equality, es- 60
pecially in education and employment status, contributes signifi-
cantly to economic growth, but that evidence on the effects of eco- 40
nomic growth on gender equality was less consistent.51
The type of growth matters, as do the policies (or lack thereof ) 20
for more inclusive growth. In urbanizing countries, for instance,
women tend to benefit more from growth in light manufactur- 0
ing.52 In East Asia, growth in the manufacturing sector—particu- female primary
school enrollment
female secondary
school enrollment
female working age
labor force participation
larly in textile and food services industries—has increased women’s
1990 2011
wage work and improved female and child health and education
outcomes.53 At the same time, the drive for global competitiveness
Source: World Development Indicators.
reinforced occupational segregation and downward pressure on
women’s wages.54
Natural resource–driven growth has had few or mixed results for
gender equality. In Kazakhstan, a country gender assessment con- a range of countries, including Japan, Mexico and Saudi Arabia,
ducted by the Asian Development Bank found that women had significant educational achievements have not closed significant
benefited relatively little from robust oil-driven economic growth. gender gaps in the workforce.58 In Qatar, there are more than five
In Egypt, oil-driven and market-oriented growth starting in the women enrolled in higher education for every man, yet there are
1970s and extending through the early 2000s involved transitions twice as many men as women in the labor force.59
to non-trade sectors (such as construction and transport) and de- The Middle East and North Africa region illustrates how size-
regulated private sector jobs where women faced greater barriers able gains in girls’ education can be necessary but insufficient to
to entry and higher levels of discrimination, though the expansion closing gender gaps in the world of work.60 Girls’ net primary
of social services and public sector jobs benefited women. World and secondary school enrollment in the region rose by 16 and 23
Bank analysis of labor market data from 1998 to 2006 similarly percentage points, respectively, over the last two decades, while
found that growth had little impact on women’s labor force par- female labor force participation for the working age population
ticipation in Egypt. These findings reinforce the complex relation- (15–64) rose by only three percentage points (Figure 1.4).61 This
ships between growth and women’s empowerment, and the need is not to suggest that education is unimportant for women’s eco-
for gender-informed growth and jobs strategies. nomic opportunities. In the case of Jordan, analyses show that
women’s economic activity increases significantly with education,
Education does not guarantee gender equality particularly with university attendance.62 But the very slow prog-
ress in women’s economic activity, despite the gains in education,
Education is critical for increasing girls’ opportunities. School- reinforces the fact that other constraints are at play.
ing is one of the most powerful determinants of young women’s
avoidance of early marriage and childrearing.55 Progress in school Some have argued that political commitments to invest in girls’
enrollment, particularly at the primary level, has helped advance education were not matched by similar actions for women’s eco-
gender equality and women’s empowerment—though gaps persist. nomic empowerment.63 Norms in some cultures may see women’s
From 2010 to 2012 (the latest year for which data are available), 16 education as a valuable family resource, rather than as a means to in-
countries, mostly in Africa, reported fewer than nine girls enrolled dividual economic empowerment.64 As girls transition to adulthood,
for every 10 boys in primary school.56 School progression and com- additional constraints emerge—including pressures to marry and
pletion at upper levels is also problematic. Twenty-nine countries limits on women’s time and mobility.65 Addressing a broader range
during the same time period reported fewer than nine girls enrolled of constraints can help to reap the full dividends of investments in
for every 10 boys in secondary school, while 13 countries (mainly education and enable the expansion of choice and opportunities.
in the Caribbean and the Middle East) have fewer boys enrolled.57
Yet schooling per se does not guarantee equality in the world of A Note on Male Disadvantage
work. As the chapters that follow show, stereotypes and stream- In some contexts, gender-informed jobs strategies appropri-
ing in education can reinforce occupational segregation, and in ately prioritize men’s work, along with women’s, as good for de-
12   Gender at Work

velopment. In many high-in- it can make sense to include male-specific priorities and programs
“I want to work; it is very come societies, for example, within jobs strategies.69 Gender-informed jobs strategies require
important in my life. I young men are more likely diagnostics and priority-setting which take both sexes into ac-
cannot stay home watching than young women to be count, as we suggest in chapter 4.
television.”
“NEET”—not in education,
Broadly, however, women are much more systematically disad-
employment, or training.66
—Adult female, rural Morocco, vantaged in terms of economic opportunities. Women lag on vir-
As discussed above, in high-
Jobs for Shared Prosperity tually every measure, including labor force participation, earnings,
crime and conflict-affected
situations, higher young productivity, job quality, experience, and career mobility, among
males’ employment is often others. We document these gaps in the next chapter. Against this
requisite for security, stability, backdrop, this report focuses largely on addressing constraints to
and growth.67 Men may be hard hit by structural changes. For women’s economic opportunities in increase gender equality.
example, in Europe and Central Asia, contractions in manufac-
turing sectors have had more adverse effects on men’s work than
Context Matters
on women’s, while recent expansion of the service industry has
increased jobs more for women.68 These examples illustrate that Ultimately, jobs priorities and actions must respond to the
there are some cases of at least short-term male disadvantage, and circumstances faced by each region, country, and community.

Box 1.2. Regional perspectives on challenges and opportunities for gender equality at work
East Asia and the Pacific: Gender gaps have narrowed in labor tor jobs. Clustering into certain degree programs at university
force participation, but intraregional differences remain. Al- reflects this segregation. Well-intended subsidies have the per-
though female access to basic education is no longer a first-or- verse effect of encouraging women to stay home.
der issue in most countries, gender “streaming” in education OECD: School enrollment is nearly universal in OECD coun-
and persistent gender stereotypes in school curricula are a tries, where education up to age 15 or 16 is generally com-
concern. Gender disparities in the ownership and control of pulsory. Yet although boys are more likely to drop out of
productive assets persist and appear to be less responsive to secondary school, leaving girls increasingly better educated,
economic growth than investments in human capital. high-growth fields such as science, technology, and engineer-
Europe and Central Asia: Whereas the contraction of the man- ing remain male-dominated. Gender wage gaps persist, and
ufacturing sector has had a disproportionate and adverse im- women are underrepresented in corporate leadership. Wider
pact on men, the growth in the service sector has opened up provision of affordable childcare and family-friendly policies
relatively more opportunities for women. However, women’s that include paid paternal leave are needed to address wom-
wages are much less than men’s and women participate less in en’s time constraints.
entrepreneurship. Also, a dramatically aging population means South Asia: Labor force participation for women is low, espe-
there will be more elderly, especially women, vulnerable to old cially in urban areas, and women earn 20–40 percent of what
age poverty, stretching caring needs. men earn, even after controlling for factors such as education
Latin America and the Caribbean: Major progress has been and employment type. Most rural working women are em-
made in female labor force participation, thanks largely to ployed in traditional agriculture, and self-employed women
higher female education and lower fertility. However, conflicting are more likely than men to be classified as family (rather than
gender roles and constraints on time persist. Within countries, own-account) enterprise workers. Women and girls remain
poorer women face greater constraints. For example, whereas significantly constrained in levels of education, contributing
marriage predicts lower labor force participation for low-income to occupational segregation.
women, for high-income women it predicts higher participa- Sub-Saharan Africa: Although women’s labor force participa-
tion. Especially among women in poverty, expanding agency tion is high in many Sub-Saharan African countries, most of
can strengthen equality in economic opportunities. the work is subsistence-based and confined to farming and
Middle East and North Africa: Progress in female labor force household enterprises. Gender earnings gaps persist and are
participation has been slow. Beyond factors that drive women’s largely explained by differences in human capital variables,
work worldwide, such as decreased fertility and increased ed- such as education, training, and experience. Women and girls
ucation, rigid social norms concerning gender roles and wom- have fewer educational opportunities and more domestic re-
en’s decision-making are especially influential. Occupational sponsibilities. Lack of access to infrastructure for water and
segregation runs deep, for instance with women in Egypt are electricity compounds cultural constraints on women’s time
more concentrated into education, agriculture, and public sec- by adding inefficiencies to household work.
 Introduction   13

We have distilled stylized facts, key constraints, and promising possible expenditures, such as a tin roof to keep rain out of the home, con-
solutions from a large body of established and emerging evidence struction of a toilet, or investment goods like business machinery or a motor-
spanning a wide range of jobs challenges and contexts. To avoid cycle to increase access to markets. If men’s income is used disproportionately
on items such as cigarettes, alcohol, or recreation, then increased earnings
overgeneralization, we seek to be explicit about the context in among women can have higher impacts on living standards and poverty re-
which evidence is cited and to recognize regional differences as duction. In contexts, however, in which men consume greater investment
much as possible. Fuller regional perspectives on gender equal- goods, the case for women’s increased earnings and expenditures having
ity in the world of work have been captured in several recent re- greater effects than men’s on poverty reduction may be less clear. There is
ports.70 Some highlights are summarized in Box 1.2. also relatively little empirical evidence documenting differences in spending
between female-headed and male-headed households. See Doepke, M. and
M. Tertilt (2011), Does female empowerment promote economic development?
Notes CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP8441.
1 World Bank. 2012. World Development Report 2013: Jobs. Washington, 13. Yoong, J., et al. (2012). The impact of economic resource transfers to
DC: World Bank. doi: 10.1596/978-0-8213-9575-2. Henceforth WDR women versus men: a systematic review. London: EPPI-Centre, Social Science
2013. [Link] Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London.
2 Ibid., 48. 14. Afridi, F., A. Mukhopadhyay, et al. 2012. “Female Labour Force Par-
3. In line with International Labour Organization (ILO) usage, we fre- ticipation and Child Education in India: The Effect of the National Rural
quently use the term world of work to capture a fuller continuum of paid Employment Guarantee Scheme.” IZA DP No. 6593.
and unpaid, formal and informal work that best reflects the range of people’s 15. Docquier, F., B. L. Lowell, et al. 2009. “A gender assessment of highly
economic activities—especially women’s. skilled emigration.” Population and Development Review 35(2): 297-321.
4. Marlar, J. 2012. “Global Payroll to Population Employment Rate at 16. Elliott, M. 1996. “Impact of Work, Family, and Welfare Receipt on
27% for 2011.” Retrieved June 1, 2013, from [Link] Women’s Self-Esteem in Young Adulthood.” Social Psychology Quarterly
/poll/156944/[Link]. 59(1): 80-95.
5. Hausman, R., L. D. Tyson, et al. 2013. The Global Gender Gap Index 17. Cuberes, D. and M. Teignier. 2012. Gender gaps in the labor market and
2013 Report. Davis, World Economic Forum. aggregate productivity. Sheffield Economic Research Paper Series. Sheffield,
6. WDR 2013. UK: University of Sheffield.
7. Alkire, S., and R. Black. 1997. “A practical reasoning theory of de- 18. Ghani, E., et al. 2013. “Promoting Women’s Economic Participation
velopment ethhics: furthering the capabilities approach.” Journal of In- in India.” Economic Premise (World Bank) 107; Chamlou, N. 2007. The En-
ternational Development 9 (2): 263–79. doi: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1328 vironment for Women’s Entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa
(199703)9:2<263::aid-jid439>[Link];2-d; I. Robeyns, I. 2003. “Sen’s capa- Region. Washington, DC: World Bank.
bility approach and gender inequality: selecting relevant capabilities.” Femi-
19. Brenton, P., et al. 2013. Women and Trade in Africa: Realizing the Po-
nist Economics 9 (2–3), 61–92. doi: 10.1080/1354570022000078024.
tential. Washington, DC: World Bank.
8. Speer, P. W., C.B. Jackson, and N.A. Peterson. 2001. “The Relation-
20. Dahlman, C. 2007. “Technology, globalization, and international com-
ship between Social Cohesion and Empowerment: Support and New Im-
petitiveness: Challenges for developing countries.” In: United Nations De-
plications for Theory.” Health Education & Behavior 28 (6): 716–32. doi:
partment of Economic and Social Affairs (ed.), Industrial Development in the
10.1177/109019810102800605.
21st Century: Sustainable Development Perspectives (New York: United Na-
9. Raheim, S. and J. Bolden. 1995. “Economic Empowerment of Low-In- tions), 29-83. [Link]
come Women Through Self-Employment Programs.” Affilia 10 (2): 138–54. opment/full_report.pdf (27.08.2012); Dutta, S. 2011. The Global Innovation
doi: 10.1177/088610999501000204. Index, 2011: Accelerating Growth and Development. INSEAD.
10. Kabeer, N. 2005. “Gender equality and women’s empowerment: A crit- 21. Norton, A. and A. de Haan. 2012. “Social cohesion: theoretical debates
ical analysis of the third millennium development goal” Gender & Develop- and practical applications with respect to jobs.” Background Paper for the
ment 13 (1): 13–24. doi: 10.1080/13552070512331332273. World Development Report 2013. Washington, DC: World Bank.
11. World Bank. 2007. Gender Action Plan: Gender Equality as Smart Eco- 22. Ibid.
nomics. Washington DC: The World Bank.
23. Newport, F. and J. Wilke (2013). “Americans Still Prefer a Male
12. It is important to distinguish the circumstances under which increased Boss.”[Link]
income to women versus men translates to greater expenditures on children, .aspx, retrieved December 8, 2013.
as, despite conventional wisdom, this is not universally the case. Econometric
modelling by Doepke and Tertilt suggests that female and male differences 24. WDR 2013.
in spending better reflect differences in constraints than in innate preferences 25. Norton, A. and A. de Haan. 2012. Social cohesion: theoretical debates
between women and men to invest in children. When women’s agency is and practical applications with respect to jobs. Background Paper for the
more restricted than men’s—for example, in driving, recreation, or access- World Development Report 2013. Washington, DC: World Bank.
ing markets—their range of consumption choices is also more limited. The
26. Kabeer, N. (2005). Gender equality and women’s empowerment: A crit-
results suggest that the impacts of women’s jobs relative to men’s on living
ical analysis of the third millennium development goal.” Gender & Develop-
standards through increased investments in children will be larger in contexts
ment 13 (1): 13–24. doi: 10.1080/13552070512331332273.
where women’s agency is more heavily constrained. As countries develop and
constraints on women diminish, spending behaviors between sexes within 27. Raheim, S., and J. Bolden. 1995. “Economic Empowerment of Low-
households may look more similar. In assessing the impacts of gender-specific Income Women Through Self-Employment Programs.” Affilia 10 (2): 138–
jobs on living standards, research also needs to account for a broader range of 54. doi: 10.1177/088610999501000204
14   Gender at Work

28. IFC Corporate Relations. 2011. Women and Business: Drivers of De- powerment and Inclusive Growth: Transforming the Structures of Constraint.
velopment: Telling Our Story. Vol. 5, Issue 2. [Link] New York: UN Women. [Link]
connect/e6d87700484e76dda3f5af5f4fc3f18b/TOSwomen_Sep2011.pdf /Attachments/Sections/Library/Publications/2013/1/Paid-work-womens
?MOD=AJPERES (Accessed April 14, 2013). -empowerment-and-inclusive-growth2%[Link].
29. Guy, M. E. and M. A. Newman. 2004. “Women’s Jobs, Men’s Jobs: 49. World Bank. 2011. World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality
Sex Segregation and Emotional Labor.” Public Administration Review 64 (3): and Development (Washington, DC: World Bank), 212. [Link]
289–98. [Link]/CQCTMSFI40.
30. OECD. 2012. “The Business Case for Women’s Economic Empower- 50. Esther Duflo. 2011. “Women’s Empowerment and Economic Devel-
ment.” Background Paper. Paris: OECD. opment.” Working Paper No. 17702. Cambridge, Mass.: National Bureau of
Economic Research.
31. Ibid.
51. Naila Kabeer and Luisa Natali, “Gender Equality and Economic
32. Herring, C.. 2009. “Does Diversity Pay? Race, Gender, and the Busi-
Growth: Is there a Win-Win?” (Working Paper 417, Institute of Develop-
ness Case for Diversity.” American Sociological Review 74 (2): 208–24.
ment Studies, Brighton, UK: 2013); Naila Kabeer, et al. 2013. Paid Work,
33. Credit Suisse. 2012. Gender diversity and corporate performance. Zurich: Women’s Empowerment and Inclusive Growth: Transforming the Structures of
Credit Suisse. Constraint. New York: UN Women. [Link]
34. IFC. 2013. Investing in Women’s Employment: Good for Business, Good for /Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/Library/Publications/2013/1/Paid
Development. Washington, DC: International Finance Corporation. -work-womens-empowerment-and-inclusive-growth2%[Link].

35. Porter, M. E. and M. R. Kramer. 2011. “Creating Shared Value.” Har- 52. WDR 2013.
vard Business Review, January 2011. 53. World Bank. 2012. Toward Gender Equality in East Asia and the Pacific.
36. International Labour Office (ILO). 2010. “Women in labour markets: Washington, DC: World Bank.
Measuring progress and identifying challenges.” Geneva: ILO. [Link] 54. Rodgers, Y. and J. E. Zveglich. 2012. “Inclusive growth and gender
.[Link]/images/stories/contenido/pdf/Gender/WD-Women2010 inequality in Asia’s labor markets.” ADB Economics Working Paper Series
_123835.pdf. No. 321. Manila: Asian Development Bank.
37. Aguirre, D., L. Hoteit, et al. 2012. Empowering the Third Billion: Women 55. Singh, S. and R. Samara. 1996. “Early Marriage Among Women in
and the World of Work in 2012. New York: Booz & Co. Developing Countries.” International Family Planning Perspectives 22 (4):
38. The entrepreneurship gender gap is defined as the gap between males 148–175; Jain, S. and Kurz, K. (2007). New Insights on Preventing Child
and females in the fraction of entrepreneurs in the working age population. Marriage: A Global Analysis of Factors and Programs. Washington, DC: Inter-
national Center for Research on Women.
39. Cuberes, D. and M. Teignier. 2012. Gender gaps in the labor market and
56. World Development Indicators (Ratio of female to male primary enroll-
aggregate productivity. Sheffield Economic Research Paper Series. Sheffield,
ment (%)). Countries include: Afghanistan, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Cen-
UK: University of Sheffield.
tral African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic
40. UN Food and Agriculture Organization (2011). The State of Food and of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Pakistan, and Yemen.
Agriculture 2010-2011. Rome: FAO.
57. World Development Indicators (Ratio of female to male secondary en-
41. World Bank. 2009. Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook. Washington, DC: rollment [%]). Countries with gaps disadvantaging girls include: Afghanistan,
World Bank. Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic,
42. World Bank. 2012. The Effect of Women’s Economic Power in Latin Amer- Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea,
ica and the Caribbean. Washington, DC: World Bank. [Link] Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Mali, Malta, Mau-
.[Link]/bitstream/handle/10986/11867/[Link]. ritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sol-
omon Islands, Tajikistan, Tanzania, and the Republic of Yemen. Countries
43. WDR 2012 215; WDR 2013 300. with gaps disadvantaging boys include: Bangladesh, Barbados, Bermuda,
44. Ñopo, Hugo, Miguel Robles, and Jaime Saavedra. 2007. “Occupational Cape Verde, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Lebanon, Lesotho, Samoa, Sao
Training to Reduce Gender Segregation: The Impacts of ProJoven.” Research Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Suriname, and West Bank and Gaza.
Department Working Paper #623. Washington, DC: Inter-American Devel- 58. Hausman, R., L. D. Tyson, et al. 2012. The Global Gender Gap Index
opment Bank. 2012 Report. Davos: World Economic Forum.
45. Alkire, S., and R. Black. 1997. “A practical reasoning theory of de- 59. World Development Indicators, 2011 data.
velopment ethics: furthering the capabilities approach.” Journal of In-
ternational Development 9 (2): 263–79. doi: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1328 60. World Bank. 2013. Opening Doors: Gender Equality and Development
(199703)9:2<263::aid-jid439>[Link];2-d; Obeyns, I. 2003. “Sen’s capability in the Middle East and North Africa. Washington, DC: World Bank. https://
approach and gender inequality: selecting relevant capabilities.” Feminist Eco- [Link]/handle/10986/12552.
nomics 9 (2–3), 61–92. doi: 10.1080/1354570022000078024. 61. World Development Indicators.
46. ILO 2010. Women in labor markets: Measuring progress and identifying 62. Mryyan, N.. 2012. “Demographics, labor force participation and un-
challenges. Geneva, ILO. employment in Jordan.” Working Paper No. 670. Giza, Egypt: Economic
47. For example, see: UNICEF. 2007. The State of the World’s Children 2007: Research Forum.
Gender and the Life Cycle. New York: UNICEF; McKinsey & Company. 63. World Bank. 2005. The Economic Advancement of Women in Jordan:
2010. The Business of Empowering Women. London: McKinsey & Company. A Country Gender Assessment. Washington, DC: World Bank.
48. Naila Kabeer and Luisa Natali. 2013. “Gender Equality and Economic 64. Read, J. N. G. and S. Oselin. 2008. “Gender and the Education-
Growth: Is there a Win-Win?” Working Paper 417. Brighton, UK: Institute Employment Paradox in Ethnic and Religious Contexts: The Case of Arab
of Development Studies; Naila Kabeer et al. 2013. Paid Work, Women’s Em- Americans.” American Sociological Review 73 (2): 296–313.
 Introduction   15

65. World Bank. 2013. Opening Doors: Gender Equality and Development portunities for Men and Women in Emerging Europe and Central Asia.
in the Middle East and North Africa. Washington, DC: World Bank; World Washington, DC: World Bank; LCR: Chioda, L. 2011. Work & Fam-
Bank. 2005. The Economic Advancement of Women in Jordan: A Country Gen- ily: Latin American and Caribbean Women in Search of a New Balance.
der Assessment. Washington, DC: World Bank. Washington, DC: World Bank; World Bank. 2012. The Effect of Women’s
Economic Power in Latin America and the Caribbean. Washington, DC:
66. The Economist. 2013. “Generation Joblessness.”
World Bank. MNA: Gatti, R., M. Morgandi, et al. 2013. Jobs for Shared
67. World Bank. 2012. Creating Jobs Good for Development: Policy Directions Prosperity: Time for Action in the Middle East and North Africa. Wash-
from the 2013 World Development Report on Jobs. Washington, DC: World Bank. ington, DC: World Bank; World Bank. 2013. Opening Doors: Gender
68. Sattar, S. 2012. Opportunities for Men and Women in Emerging Eu- Equality and Development in the Middle East and North Africa. Washing-
rope and Central Asia. Washington, DC: World Bank. ton, DC: World Bank; OECD. 2012. Closing the Gender Gap: Act Now.
OECD Publishing. SAR: Nayar, R., P. Gottret, et al. 2012. More and Bet-
69. Heinrich, C. J. and H. Holzer. 2010. Improving Education and Em- ter Jobs in South Asia. Washington, DC: World Bank. SSA: Arbache, J. S.,
ployment for Disadvantaged Young Men: Proven and Promising Strategies. E. Filipiak, et al. 2010. Overview: Why Study Gender Disparities in Africa’s
Washington, DC: Urban Institute. Labor Markets? Gender Disparities in Africa’s Labor Market. Washington,
70. EAP: World Bank. 2012. Toward Gender Equality in East Asia and DC: World Bank, 1–20.
the Pacific. Washington, DC: World Bank. ECA: Sattar, S. 2012. Op-
 Taking Stock
Stylized Facts About Gender at Work

Key messages

▶▶ Gender gaps in the world of work arise in multiple forms, including

types of jobs, firms, and farming; earnings; and rates of participation.
Diagnostics examine multiple dimensions together for a fuller picture.
▶▶ Women and men sort into different types of economic activity, includ-
ing different occupations, sectors, industries, and types of firms.
▶▶ Women consistently earn less than men, with gaps largely traced to
sorting.
▶▶ Women’s farming and entrepreneurship is generally less productive and
profitable than men’s because of gender differences in firm characteris-
tics and access to productive inputs rather than differences in ability.
▶▶ Women’s labor force participation globally has stagnated, falling
slightly from 57 percent in 1990 to 55 percent in 2012.

The gender differences in the world of work are striking, extensive and enduring.
They exist in multiple dimensions. Although the most obvious gap is in labor force
participation rates, there are other persistent gender gaps—in earnings and types of
jobs, particularly—that affect the extent to which paid work expands well-being,
agency, and future economic opportunities.
One-dimensional pictures are limited, if not misleading. Often the focus is too
narrowly on labor force participation, for example. In some of the world’s poorest
countries, such as Rwanda and Tanzania, women’s rate of labor force participation
is close to 90 percent.1 However, this does not mean that women are employed in
good jobs, farming productive crops, running profitable enterprises, or earning as
much as their male counterparts. On the contrary, much of the work done by the
world’s poor is subsistence-based, insecure, and lacking in basic protections.
Figure 2.1 illustrates the importance of a multidimensional perspective for the 10
most populous developing countries for which we have data, representing one-third
of the world’s population. In all cases, women are less likely to be in the labor force,
earn less than men, and, in all but Brazil, working women are less likely than work-
ing men to be employed in wage jobs. In Turkey, while gender wage gaps appear to
be small, there are large disparities in labor force participation and employment in
wage jobs. And a deeper analysis of Turkey’s wage differences reveals that the gap
18   Gender at Work

Figure 2.1. A multidimensional perspective to gender equality in the world of work is needed
100

80

60
percentage

40

20

0
India Indonesia Brazil Pakistan Bangladesh Mexico Vietnam Philippines Egypt Turkey

(bar) Female Male Labor force participation Wage and salary workers Gender wage gap

Source: World Development Indicators and WDR 2013 statistical annex (for wage gaps, except Mexico’s, which comes from UN Statistics).

widens when one controls for basic characteristics such as age, career mobility.7 Notably, part-time work among women is high-
education, and tenure.2 This underscores the importance of mul- est in the Netherlands, who benefit from policies that extend so-
tidimensional appraisals of gender equality in the world of work. cial protection and entitlements to part-time workers.8
Box 2.1 offers an empirical picture, highlighting some key facts Gender inequality is perpetuated in the informal economy.
that are not widely known. The informal economy includes workers in informal sectors—all
jobs in unregistered and small-scale private unincorporated en-
Employment Status and Quality terprises—as well as informal jobs in formal sector firms—such
as unpaid family enterprise workers and casual, short-term, and
Women are less likely than men to have full-time wage jobs seasonal workers without contracts or legal status.9 Although men
with an employer. Women in developing countries are underrep- outnumber women in absolute terms in the informal economy in
resented in every type of employment and are more than twice as all regions but Sub-Saharan Africa, in developing countries work-
likely to be out of the labor force altogether (Figure 2.2). Signif- ing women tend to be more concentrated into informal work.10
icant, though less extreme, gaps persist in high income countries Recent analysis of 41 developing countries with gender-disaggre-
as well. Globally, Gallup finds that men are nearly twice as likely gated data found that women were more likely than male counter-
as women to be in full-time employment for an employer, and parts to be in non-agricultural informal employment in 30 coun-
people in this type of work report the highest levels of well-being.4 tries,11 including 56 versus 48 percent in Peru, and 62 versus 55
These jobs are more likely to come with a higher and more de- percent in Uganda.12
pendable wage, benefits, and protections. There are also regional
As informal workers, women generally earn less than men
differences between men and women that work full time for an
and sort into different types of jobs.13 Women are particularly
employer (Figure 2.3). In the Middle East and North Africa and
concentrated into the more “invisible” activities, such as domestic
South Asia for example, among the entire working age popula-
labor and unpaid work.14 Recent data indicate that over a quar-
tion, men are about four times as likely as women to have full-
ter (27 percent) of all female wage workers in Latin America and
time jobs for an employer.5
the Caribbean, and 14 percent in Africa are domestic workers.15
Women’s jobs are consistently more likely than men’s to be Women represent an estimated 83 percent of domestic workers
part-time (Figure 2.4).6 Part-time work can provide increased worldwide.16 Many of these workers are not covered by labor laws,
flexibility and bring more women into the labor force. But it tends including those guaranteeing maximum weekly working hours,
to involve lower earnings, fewer benefits and protections, and less minimum wages, and maternity leave.
 Taking Stock   19

Box 2.1. To better understand gender at work3

Ten global facts everyone should know ◆◆ One in three girls in developing countries is married
◆◆ Women’s labor force participation has stagnated, in fact before reaching her 18th birthday.
decreasing from 57 percent in 1990 to 55 percent in
2012. …and some signs of progress
◆◆ Women on average earn between 10 and 30 percent less ◆◆ Women’s labor force participation in Latin America and
than working men. the Caribbean rose by 33 percent since 1990.
◆◆ Women are only half as likely as men to have full-time ◆◆ Half of the legal constraints documented in 100 coun-
wage jobs for an employer. tries in 1960 on access to and control over assets, ability
◆◆ In only five of the 114 countries for which data are to sign legal documents, and fair treatment under the
available have women reached or surpassed gender constitution had been removed by 2010.
parity with men in such occupations as legislators, senior ◆◆ Seventy-five countries have enacted domestic violence
officials, and managers; namely, Colombia, Fiji, Jamaica, legislation since the adoption of CEDAW in 1979.
Lesotho, and the Philippines.
◆◆ The global ratio of female to male primary education en-
◆◆ Women spend at least twice as much time as men on rollment increased from 92 percent in 2000 to 97 percent
unpaid domestic work such as caring and housework. in 2011.
◆◆ A total of 128 countries have at least one sex-based legal ◆◆ The share of people agreeing that men should have the
differentiation, meaning women and men cannot func- priority over jobs fell from 48 percent in 1999–2004 to 41
tion in the world of work in the same way; in 54 coun- percent in 2008–2012 in the 23 developed and develop-
tries, women face five or more legal differences. ing countries with data.
◆◆ Across developing countries, there is a nine percent- ◆◆ International commitments to gender equality are
age point gap between women and men in having an increasing. The World Bank documents nearly US$31
account at a formal financial institution. billion of gender-informed lending in fiscal year 2013,
◆◆ More than one in three women has experienced either and, in 2011, OECD countries contributed about US$20.5
physical or sexual violence by a partner or non-partner billion toward gender equality and women’s empower-
sexual violence. ment projects.
◆◆ In 2010–12, 42 countries reported gender gaps in sec-
ondary school enrollment rates exceeding 10 percent.

Figure 2.2. Women are underrepresented in every type of employment, with greater gaps in developing countries

Developing countries, women Developing countries, men High-income countries, women High-income countries, men

8% 11%
11%
21% 20% 14% 31% 7%
19%
5% 47%
49%
24%
16% 25% 6%
30% 45%

5% 6%

Business owners Self-employed Employed for employer Unemployed Out of workforce

Source: Analysis by Leora Klapper of Gallup World Poll data for 2011, population-weighted country averages.
20   Gender at Work

Figure 2.3. Women are generally less likely to be full-time employed for an employer
80

70
full-time for an employer (percent)
Share of labor force employed

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Europe High Latin America South Asia East Asia Middle East Sub-Saharan
& Central Asia Income & Caribbean & Pacific & North Africa Africa

Female Male

Note: Full-time employed for an employer (% of labor force, ages 15-64)

Source: Analysis of Gallup World Poll data for 2012, population-weighted country-averages.

Figure 2.4. Women’s employment is more likely to be part-time

80
% of adult employment that is part-time

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
g

Ki alia
Co Rica

n
Ur hile
a

ite ust n

m
ne ic

Ja y
an

b a

ge a

of ia

No y
ca a
a

Tu a

s
in ut ria
e
Bo ria

st r
Ec ey
ra r

Pa la

l
Bu ay

gu
Co ado
on

ae

nd
re
Ar bi
Zi wan

ua
ai
Pa o

Ni tin
m
on fric

A a
El abw

Ve ubl

Ne gdo
e

rw

p
ut

ad

rk
Ch So lga

us
Sy

gu

Sp
Ko
m

r
na
zu

Isr

C
ra

ug
ica g K

la
n
a
Do a, H h A
Bh

R
lv

lo
ts

er
n
Re
Sa
m

th
ic
n

d
bl
pu
in

Un
Re
m

low & lower middle–

income economies upper middle–income economies high-income economies

Male Female

Source: UN Statistics Division. Accessed on September 7, 2013; statistics reflect most recent year available. [Link]
/products/indwm.
 Taking Stock   21

Women also do most of the world’s unpaid work—usually for Workers, especially women, are concentrated in farming and
family enterprises, as well as in the home. It is estimated that self-employment in low-income countries where only 9 per-
women account for 58 percent of all unpaid contributing family cent of women have wage jobs, compared to 21 percent of men
work, and about one out of every four women in the labor force (Figure 2.5). The data clearly illustrate that formal-sector jobs
globally is an unpaid contributing family worker –someone who strategies alone would not address the needs of the vast majority
works in a market orientated business owned by a related house- of women and men in developing contexts.
hold member but is not a partner in the business (compared to
one in ten men).17 This does not include housework and childcare, In terms of wage employment, men tend to dominate man-
which is mainly done by women as well. The unpaid contributing ufacturing, construction, transport and communications
family worker gap is largest in South Asia (51 percent of women whereas women are concentrated in health, social work, and
compared to 14 percent of men).18 Household survey data suggest education. Differences in education, training, preferences for job
that in Latin America and the Caribbean, East Asia and the Pa- security, and the need for flexible working hours help explain this
cific, and Sub-Saharan Africa, women are about twice as likely as segregation, alongside gender stereotyping. ILO analysis shows
men to be non-paid employees.19 Interestingly, gender wage gaps that in both developed and developing economies women’s em-
tend to be larger in the informal than the formal sector.20 Because ployment is most heavily concentrated in occupations such as
the informal economy is a source of both job creation and gender clerks and service and retail sales workers. In contrast, men’s em-
inequality in the world of work, a long-term approach in the con- ployment dominates in crafts, trades, plant and machine opera-
text of overall jobs creation is needed (Box 2.2). tions, and managerial and legislative occupations.31

Box 2.2. Gender and informality: nuanced perspectives are needed

The informal economy is an important job source for women formal vendors and hawkers) have been critical mobilizers of
and men in developing countries, and a major contributor to rights-based action.
national economies. Estimates show that informal employ- While movement toward formalization is one aspect of a
ment comprises one-half to three-quarters of non-agricultural comprehensive jobs strategy, it is necessarily longer-term
employment in developing countries.21 Yet gender gaps in in nature.26 Overly hasty policies toward formalization could
earnings and opportunities tend to be particularly stark within disproportionately affect women by reducing an accessible
the informal economy. Gender sorting into different types of source of economic opportunity without removing barriers to
work reinforces disparities in earnings and vulnerability and entry in the formal economy.27 WIEGO suggests a comprehen-
responds to multiple constraints.22 For example, women’s lack sive four-tier approach that involves: (1) creating more jobs,
of access to property and financial services poses barriers to preferably formal jobs; (2) registering informal enterprises and
formal firm creation. Government corruption, time-intensive regulating informal jobs; (3) extending state protection (social
bureaucracy, high tax rates, and lack of flexibility in the formal and legal) to the informal workforce; and (4) increasing pro-
sector can push women into the informal economy.23 Domes- ductivity of informal enterprises and incomes of the informal
tic responsibilities and restricted mobility also limit women’s workforce.28
ability to participate in higher paying activities farther from
In some cases, strategic investments can help women enter
home. Gender differences in levels of literacy, education, skills,
the formal economy. For example, where Special Economic
and aspirations further contribute to gaps.
Zones exist, as in Costa Rica, Egypt, and the Philippines, these
Given women’s concentration into lower-paying and more can provide women with a gateway into formal sector em-
vulnerable work, gender-sensitive policies are often needed ployment and opportunities for higher pay when they in-
to extend social protection to those in the informal econ- clude gender-sensitive practices, such as extending health
omy—both to mitigate vulnerability and to ensure that safety education programs, family-friendly policies, and childcare
nets, public works, and other social services benefit vulnera- options.29 In other cases, initiatives create jobs for women
ble women.24 Collective action plays a particularly important within the informal economy. For example, public-private
role in filling voids in voice, representation, and support where partnerships that engage non-governmental organizations
formal organizing structures and protections are otherwise have extended opportunities through “bottom-of-the-pyr-
lacking.25 Groups like Women in Informal Employment Global- amid” models, which extend distribution channels through
izing and Organizing (WIEGO, a global action-research-policy micro-franchises selling a variety of goods, like shampoos and
network), the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA, an SIM cards, providing jobs for very poor women in countries
India-based organization of poor, self-employed women), like Bangladesh and Kenya, and helping companies penetrate
HomeNet Southeast Asia (a network of home-based workers), hard-to-reach markets.30 The partnerships help link services to
and StreetNet International (an alliance of organizations of in- address gendered constraints and vulnerabilities.
22   Gender at Work

Figure 2.5. Employment status by sex and income level

100

80
percentage

60

40

20

0
Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female

High-income Upper middle– Lower middle– Low-income

income income

wage employment self-employment farming

Source: International Income Distribution Database (I2D2). Unweighted country average of last available year after 2000 is based on data from 95 coun-
tries (accessed on November 1, 2013).

Women are especially underrepresented in science, technol- ◆◆ In only five of the 114 countries for which data are available
ogy, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. Out of 102 econ- have women reached or surpassed gender parity with men in oc-
omies for which there are recent data, only two had at least as cupations as legislators, senior officials, and managers; namely,
many female as male graduates in engineering, manufacturing, Colombia, Fiji, Jamaica, Lesotho, and the Philippines.38
and construction, and only 30 (29 percent) had attained gender This in turn may reflect biased expectations about leadership
parity in science in tertiary enrolment.32 Women’s share of the capacity. In 30 out of 66 developed and developing countries cov-
information and communication technology (ICT) workforce is ered by the World Values Survey from 2005-2012, the majority
less than one-third in Jordan and only around one-fifth in South
of men felt that men make better executives than women.39 While
Africa, Sri Lanka, and the United Kingdom.33
higher percentages of men than women generally subscribe to this
Glass ceilings remain: at the top of the business ladder, cor- belief, differences between countries tend to be larger than differ-
porate boards and CEO roles are dominated by men. A range ences between sexes (see Figure 2.7). In other words, where biased
of facts illustrates this basic point: views against women’s leadership capabilities are strong, women
◆◆ A 2013 survey of 4,322 companies from 34 industrialized also internalize these views.
and emerging market countries found that, in aggregate, only
11 percent of board members are women.34 Earnings
◆◆ Among Fortune 500 companies in the United States, only Women consistently earn less than men and no country
4 percent of CEOs, 14 percent of executive officers, and 17 has reached gender wage parity.40 While comparable data is a
percent of board members were female in 2012.35 challenge, the stylized fact is clear. Evidence from 83 developed
◆◆ Our analysis of survey data from 13,000 firms in 135 coun- and developing countries shows that women in paid work earn
tries found that fewer than one in five firms (18 percent) have 10–30 percent less than men on average.41 Another recent anal-
a female top manager, and only 10 percent of large firms have ysis of gender pay gaps across 43 countries estimated the average
female management.36 In South Asia, women manage about at around 18 percent.42 Additionally, earlier progress in reducing
one in 16 firms (Figure 2.6).37 gender pay gaps appears to have stagnated over the last decade.43
 Taking Stock   23

Figure 2.6. Women are underrepresented in firms’ top management

35
Percentage of firms with top

30
25
female manager

20
15
10
5
0
Small (5-19 employees)

Small (5-19 employees)

Small (5-19 employees)

Medium (20-99)
Medium (20-99)

Medium (20-99)

Medium (20-99)

Medium (20-99)
Small (5-19 employees)

Small (5-19 employees)

Small (5-19 employees)

Small (5-19 employees)

Medium (20-99)

Medium (20-99)
Large (100+)

Large (100+)

Large (100+)

Large (100+)

Large (100+)

Large (100+)
Large (100+)
East Asia & High-income Latin America Europe & Sub-Saharan Middle East & South Asia
Pacific & Caribbean Central Asia Africa North Africa

Source: Enterprise Surveys data for 2007–12.

Figure 2.7. Country differences exceed gender differences in attitudes toward women’s leadership ability

Sweden (2011)

Netherlands (2012)
Lowest

Switzerland (2007)
Male leadership bias

Canada (2006)

United States (2011)

Jordan (2007)

Mali (2007)
Highest

Iran (2007)

Pakistan (2012)

Egypt (2008)

0 20 40 60 80 100
Percentage who agree with the statement,
“On the whole, men make better business executives than women do”

Male Female

Note: Figures represent most recent data available for the five countries with the highest and lowest overall agreement toward the statement.
Source: World Values Surveys.
24   Gender at Work

Most of the pay gap in wage work is due to differing jobs ties.55 Some key areas of female disadvantage are well established,
and hours. Women and men earn different wages primarily be- although data tend to be weak.
cause of different types of work. The ILO, for example, docu-
Female-owned businesses are generally smaller and employ
ments substantial earnings differences between male-dominated
fewer people. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor indicates
and female-dominated occupations.44 The implication is that
that women are more likely than men to run single-person busi-
labor policies, such as minimum wages and anti-discrimination
nesses without any employees. In Latin America and the Carib-
regulations, may help in some cases but will not be enough to
erase gaps, and longer-term strategies are needed to reduce gender bean, for example, half of established businesses owned by women
sorting into different types of jobs and firms. have no employees, compared to 38 percent for men, and in
Sub-Saharan Africa, the respective figures are 44 and 30 percent.56
Nonetheless, women earn less than men even when controlling Likewise, analysis of unregistered firms across six African countries
for industry and occupation. In 2010, controlling for these fac-
found that women’s firms were significantly smaller than men’s.57
tors, women earned 86 percent of what men earned in Chile,
69 percent in Estonia, and only 36 percent in Pakistan.45 In the Female entrepreneurs in developing countries are more likely
United States, full-time female secretaries earned 14 percent less than their male counterparts to be concentrated into small
than male secretaries in 2011, and full-time first-line women re- and informal firms and retail sectors.58 Most non-agricultural
tail sales supervisors earned 21 percent less than men in the same entrepreneurs in developing countries, especially women, operate
position.46 in the retail sector. Men dominate construction and business-ori-
Unexplained earnings gaps are largest among part-time ented services whereas women are more likely found in retail and
workers and those with low levels of education. Analysis of manufacturing (Figure 2.8). About 18 percent of non-agricultural
64 developing countries reveals that women in part-time work self-employed males work in business-oriented services, compared
(20 hours or fewer per week) and with low levels of education to only 5 percent of females.59
(less than complete primary) are significantly more likely to earn Because of differences in human capital and productive
less than men with similar profiles.47 We also know that women inputs, female farmers achieve lower productivity than male
are heavily concentrated into part-time work and, in developing farmers—20 to 30 percent less, due largely to differences in hu-
countries, are more likely to have lower levels of education. man capital and access to productive inputs.60 As a result of gen-
Women’s earnings often decline when they have children. der-specific constraints, female farmers tend to have lower output
Across 28 developed and developing countries, 71 percent of per unit of land and are much less likely to be active in commer-
women under the age of 30 experienced lower earnings after cial farming than men.61 In western Kenya, the 23 percent gap
having children, compared to 43 percent of men.48 Women aged in yields between male- and female-headed households has been
30–39 with children are twice as likely as men with children to explained largely by female-headed households having less-secure
have reduced earnings (88 versus 43 percent). Men of all ages access to land and lower levels of education.62
with children are more likely to have higher earnings than men
without children, which is not the case for women in any age
group.
Figure 2.8. Distribution of self-employed jobs in 97 developing
countries
Differences in Entrepreneurship and
100
Farming
Entrepreneurship is critical to gender at work. Micro, small, 80
and medium enterprises (MSMEs)49 comprise 90 percent of all
60
percent

jobs in developing countries,50 and over the past decade their

growth rate in low-income countries has been triple that of MS-
40
MEs in high-income countries.51 Agricultural employment re-
mains the primary source of livelihood for about 38 percent of 20
the population in developing countries.52 Women comprise about
43 percent of the agricultural labor force in developing countries 0
Male Female
overall, and about half in East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.53 The
“feminization of agriculture” has been documented in develop- Agriculture Manufacturing Construction
ing countries as men migrate farther away and for longer for off- Retail Services (Business-Oriented)
farm employment while women, more constrained in terms of Services (Community-Oriented) Other
time and mobility, are more likely to continue agricultural work.54
Women are generally concentrated into low levels of agricultural Note: Based on 97 developing countries.
value chains, performing mostly basic smallholder farming activi- Source: International Income Distribution Database (I2D2).
 Taking Stock   25

When firm size, sector, and capital intensity are controlled ◆◆ The gap is wider in developing countries—37 percent of women
for, gender gaps in firm productivity diminish or disappear.63 compared to 46 percent of men. South Asia and the Middle
Because women and men sort into different types of enterprises, East and North Africa have the largest gender gap: women are
simply comparing productivity or profitability by gender is mis- about 40 percent less likely than men to have a formal account.
leading. When key firm characteristics are controlled for, Hall- The gender gap extends to access to credit as well (Figure 2.9).
ward-Dreimeier (2013) finds that gender gaps in productivity
virtually disappear. Having an account at a formal financial institution has multi-
ple benefits in the world of work and beyond. It provides a reli-
Women typically farm less profitable crops and smaller able payment channel for employers and government programs,
plots than men. Women farm both cash and subsistence crops, it opens more opportunities for financial credit that can be used
though social norms often result in men’s farming concentrating in business start-up and growth, and it provides protection for
more on the former and women’s more on the latter.64 For ex- workers’ earnings.76 Access to finance affects both women as in-
ample, in Ghana, cocoa is grown more by male farmers, while dividuals and women-owned firms.77 The IFC (2011) estimates
cocoyam, a staple crop often consumed at home, is dispropor- that while women-owned entities represent over 30 percent of
tionately grown by women.65 In all 14 countries for which there registered businesses worldwide, on average, only 5 to 10 per-
are data, the farm sizes of male-headed households are larger cent of women-owned entities have access to commercial bank
than those of female-headed households, and in some countries loans.
the gaps are particularly wide—in Ecuador and Pakistan, for in-
Women—especially poor women—still trail men in terms
stance, farms of male-headed households are more than twice as
of access to information and communication technology. In
large.66 2012, 200 million fewer girls and women than boys and men were
Women entrepreneurs and farmers tend to have less ac- online in developing countries, a gap of 23 percent. And this gap
cess than men to capital, financial services, equipment, land, is much higher in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North
agricultural technologies, hired labor, and market informa- Africa, and South Asia.78 Women are also less likely than men to
tion.67 Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, for exam- own or have access to a mobile phone in developing countries—
ple, consistently have assets of lower value than men, and yet reportedly as much as 21 percent less likely.79 In India, only 44
prospective female entrepreneurs are generally required to put percent of women own cell phones (compared to 66 percent of
up significantly more collateral than prospective male entrepre- men), and a meager 4 percent of women use the internet regularly
neurs to access capital.68 These asset gaps are costly. According (compared to 9 percent of men).80
to a recent Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report, re-
ducing gender inequalities in access to productive resources and Labor Force Participation
services could produce an increase in yields on women’s farms of
between 20 percent and 30 percent, which could raise agricul- Of the roughly 3.3 billion people who are part of the global
tural output in developing countries by 2.5 percent to 4 percent labor force, 40 percent—1.3 billion—are women. Globally, in
(based on data from 52 countries).69 In some countries, the gains 2012, the labor force participation rate (ages 15–64) was 82 per-
could be even larger. In Zambia, if women farmers had the same cent for men compared to 55 percent for women.81
capital as their male counterparts, national output could rise by Women’s labor force participation has stagnated, and has
up to 15 percent.70 actually fallen two percentage points (to 55 percent) since
There are well documented disparities in access to and con- 1990. While the gender gap has narrowed slightly from 27 to 26
trol of financial and physical capital—particularly credit and percentage points since 1990, this is entirely due to falling male
labor force participation. Regional patterns vary: Sub-Saharan Af-
land.71 For many women, this gender bias extends to non-land
rica and Latin America and the Caribbean have seen increases in
assets, such as livestock—especially more valuable livestock, such
female labor force participation, while female participation has
as cattle.72 Sex-disaggregated data on livestock ownership are rare73
declined in South Asia—particularly in India, though this case is
but available data consistently shows gaps. A study of men’s and
complex.82 Further, women’s labor force participation in develop-
women’s livestock ownership in Northeastern Uganda found
ing countries is often lower in urban areas. In Turkey, for example,
that 62 percent of men, compared to only 14 percent of women,
recent declines have been attributed largely to migration out of
owned cattle.74
rural areas—where a large share of women participate as unpaid
Women have less access than men to financial services. The family workers and subsistence farmers, and where women tend
Global Findex database measures how people in 148 countries— to have greater extended family networks to support childcare and
including the poor, women, and rural residents—save, borrow, household functions.83
make payments, and manage risk.75 The data document signifi- Gender gaps in labor force participation occur across all
cant gender gaps: regions and age groups to varying extents. In most regions,
◆◆ Only 47 percent of women globally have opened an account at the steepest increase in gaps occurs in the 15–24 and 25–34 age
a formal financial institution compared to 55 percent of men. groups, with the onset of childcare responsibilities (Figure 2.10).
26   Gender at Work

Figure 2.9. Women are less likely than men to have formal accounts and credit
Formal account, by gender Formal credit, by gender

100 20

80 16
Percent of population

Percent of population
60 12

40 8

20 4

0 0
e

ia
an

ia
a

an

a
sia

a
c

sia
c
m

ric

m
ric

ric
cifi

ric
cifi
As

As
be

be
lA

lA
co

co
Af

Af

Af

Af
Pa

Pa
h

h
rib

rib
a

a
-in

-in
ut

ut
rth

rth

n
r

r
&

&
nt

nt
ra
Ca

ra
Ca
o
gh

o
gh
a

a
No

No
Ce

S
Ce
ha

ha
i

i
As
Hi

&

As
Hi

&
Sa

Sa
&

&
&

&
ica

ica
st

st
e

b-

pe

b-
st

st
Ea

Ea
er
p

er
Ea

Ea
Su

Su
ro

ro
Am

Am
Eu

Eu

e
dl

dl
tin

tin
id

id
La

La

M
Female Male

Note: “Formal account” data indicate responses to the query, “Do you, either by yourself or together with someone else, currently have an account at any of
the following places? Either financial institution or post office.”
Source: Gallup World Surveys.

Europe and Central Asia is the exception, where the gap widens Women’s labor force participation tends to fall as country
later on. In most regions, the largest gender gaps are found after incomes rise and some women move out of subsistence-based
age 55, suggesting that women leave the labor force earlier. The agricultural work. At the same, the nature of women’s labor
largest regional gender gap in labor force participation—62 per- force participation tends change with development. Namely,
centage points for the age group 35–54—is found in the Middle self-employment, which in developing countries is often subsis-
East and North Africa. tence-based, tends to decline, while the share of women in wage
All around the world women spend more time on unpaid work increases. Notably, the share of women as employers remains
domestic work—that is, child and elderly care and house- constant with countries’ income.89
work—than men.84 Focus group discussions in 18 developing In sum, gender gaps in the world of work are both extensive and
countries found that women on average report spending about multidimensional. These gaps reflect the persistence of gender-spe-
three hours more per day on housework and childcare and about cific constraints across the lifecycle, which are explored in the next
2.5 hours less per day on market activities compared to men.85 chapter. The relative magnitude and importance of different dispar-
The burden of childcare responsibilities creates a “mother- ities depends on the country context, and it is useful to compare
hood penalty.”86 One study of panel data across 97 countries es- performance across countries. Further, while inequality in the world
timated that, on average, a birth reduces a woman’s labor supply of work is a global phenomenon, it is clearly more extensive in par-
by almost two years during her reproductive years.87 The gender ticular countries and regions. It is often helpful for policy-makers,
differences in the effects of having children on caring responsibili- donors, and other stakeholders to start with an understanding of
ties and work are substantial. In Australia, for example, when men how a particular country of concern fairs relative to others with
have one child under five, their full-time employment on average respect to gender equality in the world of work and more broadly.
increases by about 27 percent; when women have one child under Resource Box 2.1 summarizes common indices that capture aggre-
five, their full-time employment drops by 20 percent.88 gate outcomes and practices related to gender equality.
 Taking Stock   27

Figure 2.10. Gender gaps in labor force participation for different age groups

East Asia & Pacific Europe & Central Asia

100 100 Male

80 80 Female

60 60
percent

percent
40 40

20 20

0 0
15–24 25–34 35–54 55–64 65+ 15–24 25–34 35–54 55–64 65+

High Income Latin America & Caribbean

100 100

80 80

60 60
percent

percent

40 40

20 20

0 0
15–24 25–34 35–54 55–64 65+ 15–24 25–34 35–54 55–64 65+

Middle East & North Africa South Asia

100 100

80 80

60 60
percent

percent

40 40

20 20

0 0
15–24 25–34 35–54 55–64 65+ 15–24 25–34 35–54 55–64 65+

Sub-Saharan Africa World

100 100

80 80

60 60
percent

percent

40 40

20 20

0 0
15–24 25–34 35–54 55–64 65+ 15–24 25–34 35–54 55–64 65+

Note: Figures represent unweighted averages (population-weighted averages would require population sizes by age group).
Source: Team analyses of ILO KILM data (2012).
28   Gender at Work

Resource Box 2.1. Where do countries stand? Global and regional rankings on gender equality and women’s economic empowerment
Indices can provide powerful benchmarking tools for evaluat- ◆◆ Gender GEDI Index (Global Entrepreneurship and
ing where a particular country or region stands relative to oth- Development Institute): Based so far on a 17-country
ers, or to itself over time, on critical outcomes and practices pilot analysis, the index measures the development of
related to gender equality in the world of work (see notes for high-potential female entrepreneurship worldwide.93
Website links): ◆◆ Social Institutions and Gender Index (OECD): The
◆◆ Gender Inequality Index (UNDP): The index reflects index is a measure of underlying discrimination against
women’s disadvantage in three dimensions—reproduc- women for over 100 countries. SIGI captures and quan-
tive health, empowerment and the labor market—for tifies discriminatory social institutions—these include,
as many countries as data of reasonable quality allow. among others, early marriage, discriminatory inheritance
The index shows the loss in human development due to practices, violence against women, son bias, and restrict-
inequality between female and male achievements in ed access to productive resources.94
these dimensions.90 ◆◆ WEVentureScope (The Economist Intelligence Unit and
◆◆ Global Gender Gap Index (World Economic Forum): Intro- the Multilateral Investment Fund): The tool assesses the
duced in 2006, the index provides a framework for captur- environment for supporting and growing women’s mi-
ing the magnitude and scope of gender-based disparities cro, small, and medium-sized businesses in Latin Amer-
around the world. The index benchmarks national gender ica and the Caribbean. It measures business operating
gaps on economic, political, education and health-based risks, access to finance, capacity and skill-building oppor-
criteria and provides country rankings that allow for com- tunities, and the presence of social services.95
parison across regions and income groups and over time.91 ◆◆ Women’s Economic Opportunity Index (The Econo-
◆◆ Gender Equality Index (European Institute for Gender mist Intelligence Unit): The index is a pilot effort funded
Equality): The index, specific to the European Union, is by the World Bank to assess the laws, regulations,
a measurement tool that combines gender indicators, practices, and attitudes that affect women workers
according to a conceptual framework, into a single and entrepreneurs. It uses 26 indicators, selected and
summary measure. Core domains include: work, money, validated by a panel of gender experts, to evaluate
knowledge, time, power, health and two satellite do- every aspect of the economic and social value chain for
mains (intersecting inequalities and violence).92 women.96

8) World Health Organization (WHO). 2013. Global and regional estimates

Notes
of violence against women: Prevalence and health effects of intimate partner vio-
1. World Development Indicators. Washington, DC: World Bank. lence and non-partner sexual violence. Geneva: WHO.
9) Team analyses of World Development Indicators data.
2. Aktas, A. and G. Uysal. 2012. “Explaining the Gender Wage Gap in
10) UNICEF. 2011. The State of the World’s Children 2011, Adolescence: An
Turkey Using the Wage Structure Survey.” BETAM Working Paper Series
Age of Opportunity. New York: UNICEF. (Figure excludes China).
#005. Istanbul, Bahçeşehir University.
For Signs of Progress:
3. Facts come from the following sources. 1) Team analyses of World Development Indicators.
For Global Facts: 2) Team analyses of World Values Survey data.
1) Team analyses of ILO data. 3) Hallward-Driemeier, Mary, Tazeen Hasan, and Anca Bogdana Rusu
2) World Economic Forum. 2013. “Gender Parity Task Forces.” Re- (2013). “Women’s legal rights over 50 years: progress, stagnation or re-
gression?” Policy Research working paper no. WPS 6616. Washing-
trieved December 1, 2013, from [Link]
ton, DC: World Bank. [Link]
gender-parity-task-forces.
/2013/09/18287629/women%C2%92s-legal-rights-over-50-years-progress
3) ILO. 2008. Global Wage Report 2008–09: Minimum Wages and Collective -stagnation-or-regression.
Bargaining, Towards Policy Coherence. Geneva: ILO. 4) World Bank Group “Women Business and the Law” team analyses.
4) Marlar, J. and E. Mendes. 2013. “Globally, Men Twice as Likely as Women 5) Team analyses of World Development Indicators data.
to Have a Good Job.” Retrieved October 10, 2013, from [Link] 6) World Bank. 2013. Update on implementation of the gender equality agenda
com/poll/164666/[Link]. at the World Bank Group: Report to the Board. Washington, DC: World Bank;
5) World Bank Group. Women, Business and the Law 2014. Washington, DC: and OECD. 2013. Aid in Support of Gender Equality and Women’s Empower-
World Bank. ment. Geneva: OECD.
6) United Nations. The World’s Women 2010: Trends and Statistics. New York: 4. Marlar, J. and E. Mendes. 2013. “Globally, Men Twice as
United Nations. Likely as Women to Have a Good Job.” [Link]
7) Team analyses of Gallup World data. /164666/[Link];Clifton, J., and J.
 Taking Stock   29

Marlar. 2011. “Worldwide, Good Jobs Linked to Higher Wellbeing.”http:// 25. Kapoor, A. 2007. “The SEWA way: Shaping another future for infor-
[Link]/poll/146639/worldwide-good-jobs-linked-higher-well mal labour.” Futures 39 (5): 554–68; Kabeer, N. 2008. Mainstreaming Gen-
[Link]. der in Social Protection for the Informal Economy. London: Commonwealth
Secretariat.
5. Team analysis of Gallup World Poll data.
26. McKenzie, D. and Y. S. Sakho. 2009. “Does it pay firms to register for
6. Gender at Work team’s calculations based on UN Statistics Division
taxes? The impact of formality on firm profitability.” Policy Research Work-
figures accessed on September 7, 2013, available at [Link]
ing Paper 4449. Washington, DC: World Bank; de Mel, S., D. McKenzie,
/unsd/demographic/products/indwm. et al. 2012. The demand for, and consequences of, formalization among infor-
7. Chioda, L. 2011. Work & Family: Latin American and Caribbean Women mal firms in Sri Lanka. Impact Evaluation Series No. 52. Washington, DC:
in Search of a New Balance. Washington, DC: World Bank. World Bank.
8. ILO. 2010. Women in labour markets: Measuring progress and identifying 27. Ramani et al. 2013. “Women entrepreneurs in the informal economy.”
challenges. Geneva: ILO. 28. Chen, M. A. 2012. The informal economy: definitions, theories and
9. ILO. 2013. “KILM 7th Edition Manuscript.” Retrieved August 15, policies. Working Paper No. 1. Cambridge, Mass.: Women in Informal Em-
2013, from [Link] ployment Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO).
10. Charmes, J. 2012. “The Informal Economy Worldwide: Trends and Char- 29. IFC. 2011. Fostering Women’s Economic Empowerment Through Special
acteristics.” Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research 6 (2): 103–32. Economic Zones. Washington, DC: IFC.

11. ILO. 2012. “Statistical update on employment in the informal econ- 30. Dolan, C., M. Johnstone-Louis, et al. 2012. “Shampoo, saris and SIM
omy.” Geneva: ILO. [Link] cards: seeking entrepreneurial futures at the bottom of the pyramid.” Gender
_ECONOMY/2012-06-Statistical%20update%20-%[Link]. & Development 20 (1): 33–47.

12. Authors, based on International Labor Organisation 2009 data re- 31. ILO. 2012. Global Employment Trends for Women. Geneva: ILO.
trieved April 14, 2013, from the Key Indicators of the Labour Market (7th 32. Team analyses of data from UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
Edition) database. 33. Information and Communications Technology Association – Jordan
13. Chen, M. A. 2001. “Women and informality: A global picture, the (int@j). 2012. ICT & ITES Industry Statistics & Yearbook. Amman, Jordan:
global movement.” SAIS Review 21 (1): 71–82. int@j and Ministry of Information and Communications Technology; MG
Consultants. 2010. National ICT Workforce Survey. e-Sri Lanka Development
14. Chant, S. and C. Pedwell. 2008. “Women, gender and the informal
Project, Cr : 3986-CE, ICTA/CON/QCBS/P1/248, ICT Agency of Sri
economy: An assessment of ILO research and suggested ways forward.” Dis-
Lanka; Sanders, J. 2005. “Women and IT: Fast Facts.” Presented at Interna-
cussion Paper. Geneva: ILO.
tional Symposium of Women and ICT “Women and ICT: Creating Global
15. ILO. 2013. Ending child labour in domestic work and protecting young Transformation,” June 2005, Baltimore, USA; Griffiths, M. and K. Moore.
workers from abusive working conditions. Geneva: ILO. [Link] 2006. “Issues Raised by the WINIT Project.” In E. Trauth (ed.), Encyclopedia
/ipecinfo/product/[Link]?type=document&id=21515. of Gender and Information Technology. Hershey, Penn.: Idea Group Inc.
16. ILO. 2013. Domestic workers across the world: Global and regional statis- 34. Gladman, K. and M. Lamb. 2013. GMI Ratings’ 2013 Women on
tics and the extent of legal protection. Geneva: ILO. [Link] Boards Survey. GMI Ratings. [Link]
/Whatsnew/WCMS_173363/lang--en/[Link]. /gmiratings_wob_042013.pdf?submissionGuid=05f4980d-638e-428a-b45c
-69517342345c.
17. ILO. 2010. Women in labour markets: Measuring progress and identifying
challenges. Geneva: ILO. 35. Catalyst. 2013. Catalyst Pyramid: U.S. Women in Business. New York:
Catalyst.
18. Ibid.
36. Authors. Data retrieved April 14, 2013, from the Enterprise Surveys
19. Gindling, T. H. and D. Newhouse. 2013. Self-Employment in the De- database.
veloping World. Background Paper for the World Development Report 2013.
Washington, DC: World Bank. 37. Ibid.

20. Chen, M. A. 2001. “Women and informality: A global picture, the 38. World Economic Forum. 2013. “Gender Parity Task Forces.” Re-
trieved December 1, 2013, from [Link]
global movement.” SAIS Review, 21 (1), 71–82.
/gender-parity-task-forces.
21. ILO. 2002. Women and Men in the Informal Economy: A statistical pic-
39. Team analysis of WVS data.
ture. Geneva: ILO; Charmes, J. 2012. “The Informal Economy Worldwide:
Trends and Characteristics.” Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Re- 40. Hausman, R., L. D. Tyson, et al. 2012. The Global Gender Gap Index
search 6 (2): 103–132. 2012 Report (Davos: World Economic Forum), 46. This statement uses ac-
tual estimated earned income figures, rather than those based on US$40,000
22. Chen, M. A. 2012. “The informal economy: definitions, theories and
cut-offs.
policies.” Working Paper No. 1. Cambridge, Mass.: Women in Informal
Employment Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO); Ramani, S. V., A. 41. ILO. 2008. Global Wage Report 2008/09: Minimum Wages and Collective
Thutupalli, et al. 2013. “Women entrepreneurs in the informal economy: Is Bargaining, Towards Policy Coherence. ILO: Geneva.
formalization the only solution for business sustainability?” UNU-MERIT 42. Tijdens, K. G. and M. Van Klaveren. 2012. Frozen in time: Gender pay
Working Paper Series. New York: United Nations University. gap unchanged for 10 years. Brussels: ITUC.
23. Ramani et al. 2013. “Women entrepreneurs in the informal economy.” 43. Ibid.
24. Kabeer, N. 2008. Mainstreaming Gender in Social Protection for the In- 44. ILO. 2010. Women in labour markets: Measuring progress and identifying
formal Economy. London: Commonwealth Secretariat. challenges. Geneva: ILO.
30   Gender at Work

45. WDR 2013, 358–9. Note: Wage earnings for women relative to the Uganda.” Journal of Development Studies 47 (10): 1482–1509; Doss, C. R..
wage earnings of men having the same characteristics; as a ratio. The estimate 2002. “Men’s Crops? Women’s Crops? The Gender Patterns of Cropping in
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(and its square), controlling for industry, occupation, urban residence and terns of Cropping in Ghana.” World Development 30 (11): 1987–2000.
gender. The methodology is described by Claudio E. Montenegro and Harry
Anthony Patrinos (2012) in “Returns to Schooling around the World,” a 66. UN Food and Agriculture Organization (2011). The State of Food and
background paper for the World Development Report 2013. Data sources: see Agriculture 2010–2011. Rome, FAO.
table 9 in the WDR 2013, p. 379. 67. Mehra, R. and M. Rojas. 2008. Women, food security and agriculture in
46. Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR). 2012. Fact Sheet: The a global marketplace. International Center for Research on Women. http://
Gender Wage Gap by Occupation. Washington, DC: IWPR. [Link]/publications/women-food-security-and-agriculture-global
-marketplace; IFC. 2013. Assessing Private Sector Contributions to Job Creation
47. Hugo Ñopo, Nancy Daza, and Johanna Ramos. 2012. “Gender earn- and Poverty Reduction. IFC Jobs Study. Washington, DC: IFC.
ing gaps around the world: a study of 64 countries.” International Journal of
Manpower 33 (5): 464–513. 68. GTZ, et al. 2010. Women’s Economic Opportunities in the Formal
Private Sector in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Focus on Entrepre-
48. Tijdens, K. G. and M. Van Klaveren. 2012. Frozen in time: Gender pay neurship. Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank.
gap unchanged for 10 years. Brussels: ITUC.
69. UN Food and Agriculture Organization. 2011. The State of Food and
49. The World Bank defines MSMEs as follows: micro: 1–9 employees, Agriculture 2010–2011. Rome: FAO.
small: 10–49 employees, and medium: 50–249 employees.
70. World Bank. 2009. Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook. Washington, DC:
50. Page, J. and S. Söderbom. 2012. Is Small Beautiful? Small Enterprise, World Bank.
Aid and Employment in Africa. UNU-WIDER.
71. World Bank (2011). World Development Report 2012: Gender Equal-
51. Kushnir, K., M. L. Mirmulstein, et al. 2010. Micro, Small, and Me- ity and Development. Washington, DC: World Bank; ICRW. 2005. Property
dium Enterprises Around the World: How Many are There, and What Af- Ownership for Women Enriches, Empowers and Protects: Toward Achieving the
fects the Count? Washington, DC: World Bank and IMF. Third Millenium Development Goal to Promote Gender Equality and Empower
52. World Development Indicators, Employment in agriculture (% of total Women. Washington, DC: ICRW; Doss, C., et al. Forthcoming. “Gender
employment), 2010. inequalities in ownership and control of land in Africa: myth and reality.”
53. UN Food and Agriculture Organization (2011). The State of Food and 72. Oladele, O. I., and M. Monkhei. 2008. “Gender ownership patterns of
Agriculture 2010–2011. Rome, FAO. livestock in Botswana.” Livestock Research for Rural Development 20 (10).
54. de Schutter, O.. 2013. The Agrarian Transition and the ‘Feminization’ 73. World Bank et al. 2013. “What does sex-disaggregated data say about
of Agriculture. Food Sovereignty: A Critical Dialogue. New Haven, Conn.: livestock and gender in Niger?” Livestock Data Innovation in Africa Brief.
Yale University. Washington, DC: World Bank.
55. World Bank (2011). Afghanistan: Understanding Gender in Agricul- 74. Oluka, J. et al. “Small stock and women in livestock production in
tural Value Chains : The Cases of Grapes/Raisins, Almonds and Saffron in the Teso Farming System region of Uganda.” Small Stock in Development.
Afghanistan. Washington, DC: World Bank; World Bank (2010). Liberia: 2005: 151; Deere, C. D. and J. Twyman. 2010. “Poverty, headship, and gen-
Gender-Aware Programs and Women’s Roles in Agricultural Value Chains. der inequality in asset ownership in Latin America.” Working Paper #296.
Washington, DC: World Bank. East Lansing, Mich.: Center for Gender in Global Context, Michigan State
University.
56. Kelley, D. J., et al. 2013. Global Entrepreneurship Monitor’s
2012 Women’s Report. [Link] 75. Demirguc-Kunt, A., L. Klapper, et al. Forthcoming. “Measuring fi-
/gem-2012-womens-report. nancial inclusion: The Global Findex Database.” Brookings Papers on
Economic Activity. The database is available at: [Link]
57. Amin, M.. 2010. Gender and Firm Size: Evidence from Africa. Washing-
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nomic Opportunities in Africa. Washington, DC: World Bank. uary 20, 2014.
59. Authors’ calculations based on I2D2 data. 76. Demirguc-Kunt, A., L. Klapper, et al. 2013. Women and Financial In-
60. UN Food and Agriculture Organization (2011). The State of Food and clusion. FINDEX Notes. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Agriculture 2010-2011. Rome: FAO. 77. International Finance Corporation (IFC). 2011. Strengthening Access to
61. Croppenstedt, A., M. Goldstein, et al. 2013. “Gender and Agriculture: Finance for Women-Owned SMEs in Developing Countries. Washington, DC:
Inefficiencies, Segregation, and Low Productivity Traps.” World Bank Re- IFC.
search Observer 28 (1): 79-109. 78. Intel and Dalberg. 2012. Women and the Web. Santa Clara, Calif.: Intel
62. Alene, A.D., et al. 2008. “Economic efficiency and supply response Corporation.
of women as farm managers: comparative evidence from Western Kenya.” 79. GSMA 2010. Women & Mobile: A Global Opportunity. London:
World Development 36 (7): 1247–60. GSMA.
63. Hallward-Driemeier, M.. 2013. Enterprising Women: Expanding Eco- 80. Pew Research Center. Spring 2012 Survey Data from PewRe-
nomic Opportunities in Africa. Washington, DC: World Bank. search Global Attitudes Project. [Link]
64. Peterman, A., et al. 2011. “Understanding the Complexities Sur- /spring-2012-survey-data.
rounding Gender Differences in Agricultural Productivity in Nigeria and 81 World Development Indicators, accessed on January 15, 2014.
 Taking Stock   31

82. Much of the recent decline in female labor force participation in India Egalitarian Legislation.” Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy 18:305. http://
may reflect the fact that more young women are in school. From 2005 to [Link]/cgi/[Link]?article=1190&context=djglp.
2011, female labor force participation (ages 15–64) declined by 9 percentage
87. Bloom, D., D. Canning, G. Fink, and J. Finlay. 2009. “Fertility, female
points. However, during the same time period, gross female school enrollment
labor force participation, and the demographic dividend.” Journal of Eco-
increased by 16 percentage points for secondary education and by 11 percent-
nomic Growth 14 (2): 79–101. doi: 10.1007/s10887-009-9039-9.
age points for tertiary education. Some research projects a substantial rebound
in women’s labor force participation in the decade ahead as dividends from 88. Australia Human Rights Commission. 2013. “Investing in Care: Rec-
increased education begin to materialize. Nonetheless, overall labor force par- ognising and Valuing Those Who Care.” Vol. 2, Technical Papers.
ticipation rates would still remain low, even relative to other countries in the
89. Hallward-Driemeier, M. 2013. Enterprising Women: Expanding Eco-
region. For further analysis, see S. Bhalla and R. Kaur (2011), “Labour Force
nomic Opportunities in Africa. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Participation of Women in India: Some Facts, Some Queries,” Asia Research
Centre Working Paper 40 (London: London School of Economics). 90. [Link]
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Participation in Turkey.” Working Paper No. 2. Ankara: State Planning Or-
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ganization of the Republic of Turkey and World Bank.
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86. De Silva De Alwis, R. 2011. “Examining Gender Stereotypes in New 96. [Link]
Work/Family Reconciliation Policies: The Creation of a New Paradigm for _opportunity&page=noads.
 Overlapping Constraints
Across the Lifecycle

Key messages

▶▶ Gender differences in time use, in access to productive inputs, and in

the nature and impacts of market and institutional failures are major
contributors to inequality in the world of work.
▶▶ A deeper understanding of informal institutions and social norms and
the limits they can place on women’s agency provides insights into how
constraints to women’s economic opportunities materialize.
▶▶ Constraints emerge throughout the lifecycle, and are amplified for
those facing overlapping disadvantages. These need to be addressed in
a coordinated and coherent way.
▶▶ Public or private sector actions that only address single constraints to
women’s jobs without accounting for different levels of agency may not
achieve optimal participation or impact.

This chapter explores why gender gaps in the world of work have been so per-
sistent. More specifically, why do women and men sort into different types of jobs
(and firms) and enjoy different levels of access to key productive inputs, and why do
so many women stay out of the workforce altogether? There is no single dataset or
global study that can answer these questions conclusively, but established and new
emerging evidence casts important light.
We take as a starting point the WDR 2012 analytical framework, which empha-
sized the importance of how markets and institutions (formal and informal) inter-
act with norms and behaviors at the household level and influence outcomes for
gender equality. We elaborate on the importance of market and institutional fail-
ures. Whereas some market and institutional failures stem from overt discrimina-
tion, others result from more subtle failures to address gender-specific constraints,
which are often linked to biased norms and restricted agency. We also argue that
gender gaps in the world of work are preceded by key constraints during child and
youth years. The implication is clear: while immediate jobs crises require short-term
actions directed at the working age, effective policy strategies to close gender gaps
in the world of work must start early.
Some key definitions are in order. Social norms are widely held beliefs by a group
or society about what people should and should not do.1 They can be held at mul-
34   Gender at Work

Figure 3.1. Biased norms and lack of agency across the lifecycle affect equality at work

Constraints on women and girls Consequences for

vis-à-vis norms and agency economic opportunities

Early years and

Early biases and son-preferences childhood Foundations of different aspirations, cognitive abilities
Child sexual abuse and maltreatment and non-cognitive functioning
Girls held back from school

Gender roles: domestic responsibilies Drop out of school earlier or attend less
Adolescence Inability to participate in community activities or training
Early marriage and pregnancy
and youth Acquire less early work experience
Less mobility
Stereotypes and biases Educational streaming and limited aspirations
Lack of political and community voice Inability to influence economic policies and institutions
Gender-based violence in homes, schools, or public Trauma impairs basic functioning and learning

Gender roles: domestic responsibilies Lack of time for paid work and career mobility
Legal discrimination Occupational segregation and fewer economic opportunities
Workplace discriminiation Productive age Lower wages and less promotion
Lack of control over resources Fewer productive inputs for entrepreneurship and farming
Less mobility Inability to travel far for work, training, or networking
Less political and workplace voice and representation Inability to influence economic policies and institutions
Gender-based violence in homes, workplace, or public Trauma impairs basic functioning and productivity

Gender roles: domestic responsibilies Drop out of workforce earlier

Retirement and pension age differences Old age Less promotion
Widows face legal discriminiation on inheritance Less physical or financial capital for economic
Gender-based violence in homes, workplace, or public opportunities and independence

tiple levels, including the community, school, workplace, and na- the underlying and interacting constraints that emerge through-
tion. They interact with attitudes and behaviors at the individual out women’s lives, we get a better sense of the complex processes
and household levels. Biased gender norms are those social norms that have held back progress on women’s economic opportunities
that set different expectations on what women and men or girls for decades.
and boys can and should do, thus constraining agency. Agency is
the ability to make one’s own choices and act upon them,2 which
may be constrained by formal and informal institutions, market Bundled Constraints: Norms, Agency,
failures, and practices in the household. and Economic Opportunities
The biased norms and restricted agency that limit women’s While some women (and men) choose to abstain from paid
economic opportunities manifest early and can be compounded work or prefer lower paying or lower level jobs, women’s jobs are
through life. Norms and agency are mutually reinforcing. As Fig- often heavily constrained by multiple factors that run through-
ure 3.1 illustrates, a deeper understanding of the connections be- out women’s lives and are closely linked to biased norms and re-
tween norms, agency, and economic opportunities across the life- strictions on agency. Yet many take a “gender-neutral” approach,
cycle sheds light on the cumulative effects of multiple constraints assuming that economic opportunities are equally available to
that many women in poverty face. In practice, these constraints women and men alike, thus overlooking the uneven playing
vary in form, number, and severity across settings. By exploring field on which people live. This section reviews some common
 Overlapping Constraints Across the Lifecycle   35

constraints through the lifecycle, especially related to norms and Figure 3.2. Main reasons given by young women in Morocco for
agency, but it is not exhaustive. not wanting to work, 2010
Market and institutional failures frequently limit women’s
Husband won’t
opportunities in the world of work. Even if discrimination Other allow
is a losing proposition for businesses, other factors affect firms’
and employers’ behavior. Because employers may have imperfect
12% 12%
information about workers’ skills and competencies, they often
make inferences on one’s potential based on observable charac-
teristics, such as gender or race.3 In the workplace, women tend
Busy at home Parents won’t
to lose out in these inferences. People have been shown to have 23% 23%
allow
a higher propensity to negatively evaluate women in a range of
areas, from auditions for orchestras to suitability for health sector
jobs predominately held by men.4 In recruitment and promotion, 11%
a randomized experiment in the United States showed that eval-
uators were significantly more likely to rely on group stereotypes, Social norms
rather than past performance, when judging candidates separately
compared to assessments in joint evaluation.5 Similarly, neglecting
gender-specific needs can translate into service delivery failures Source: Data from La Cava et al. (2012), Kingdom of Morocco: Promoting
that disadvantage women. For example, biased rules, low female Youth Opportunities and Participation (Washington, DC: World Bank),
representation among extension agents, and poor targeting con- which uses the Morocco Household and Youth Survey 2010.
tributes to gender gaps in access to agricultural extension services.
Prior to recent reforms, rules for membership in farmers’ and for-
estry clubs in Kenya and India—key sources for extension and work may be constrained. In the case of Morocco, with a female
advisory services for small farmers—allowed for only the head of labor force participation rate of 28 percent for young women (ages
household to join, effectively excluding most women.6 Only 15 15–24), many young women lack agency in deciding whether and
percent of extension agents globally are women; this means fewer when they work: over one-third do not work primarily because
jobs for women in extension services and services that are poten- their husbands or parents will not allow them, and another third
tially less relevant to women, who comprise 43 percent of agricul- are constrained by social norms or related domestic responsibili-
tural labor force in developing countries.7 These kinds of market ties (Figure 3.2).27 In Mozambique and Tanzania, some husbands
and institutional failures are often reinforced by social norms and and fathers actively prevent women from working in jobs where
attitudes. they would interact with other men.28
Biased norms can dictate the use of time and limit aspira- Many women face the cumulative impacts of multiple dis-
tions. Social norms influence behavior because conformity is so- advantages across the lifecycle. The reality of overlapping dis-
cially acceptable, whereas deviations can incur social exclusion, advantages implies that policies and programs often need to start
ridicule, or even violence.8 This threat limits women’s agency. early and ensure the most vulnerable are included, and that co-
Some norms, such as those related to gender roles, are rooted in ordinated, multi-sectoral solutions are needed to address com-
centuries of cultural heritage9 and are especially “sticky.”10 This pounding constraints.
“stickiness” helps to explain the pervasiveness of gender inequality
in the world of work. Gender norms are passed from one genera- As the Venn diagrams in Figure 3.3 illustrate, deprivations often
tion to the next, with families, along with broader communities, come in bundles for women living in developing countries. For
being important transmitters.11 For example, young people’s ideal the three countries presented, the Dominican Republic, Ghana,
gender allocation of housework has been shown to reflect their and Nigeria, we see that the
parents’ attitudes toward gender roles during their childhood.12 vast majority of both work-
Adult men are more likely to contribute to housework if their ing and non-working women “When mother is absent,
mothers were employed during their childhood.13 in each sample face con- I am there to take care of
straints—although, in these everything. Women take
Norms are “sticky,” but they are not static. Changes can be countries, higher shares of care of everything. The man
quite dramatic. In the United States, fewer than 20 percent of non-working women report is the household head, but
people supported the idea of wives working if husbands could bundled constraints. For ex- the woman takes care of
support them in 1936, compared to more than 80 percent in ample, 11 of 12 non-working everything.”
1998.14 But can policies and interventions promote change? Box women in the Dominican
3.1 explores this question. Republic exposed to intimate —Young woman, Serbia, On
partner violence face at least Norms and Agency
Women’s agency in the world of work is restricted both di-
rectly and indirectly. Their choices about whether and where to one other constraint. Among
36   Gender at Work

Box 3.1. Norms favor men’s economic opportunities, but can policies change them?
Gender norms favor men’s economic opportunities. Globally, and the wider social context beyond the individual can
nearly four in 10 people (close to one-half in developing coun- change men’s and boys’ attitudes toward gender roles and re-
tries) agree that, when jobs are scarce, a man should have lationships, but larger studies with longer follow-up periods
more right to a job than a woman (Figure A).15 These views are are needed.21 Toolkits designed in recent years have given
important: a study of OECD countries showed that an increase policy makers, educators, and program leaders a starting
of 10 percent in the proportion of people who think ”scarce point for developing strategies to help young people adopt
jobs should go to men first” reduces women’s employment more equitable norms and attitudes.22
rate by 5–9 percent (Figure B).16 A study of second-generation Well-implemented laws themselves may help foster changes.
American women—governed by the same laws and formal For example, in the United States, Title IX, the 1972 legislation
institutions—found that variation in work behavior was sig- ensuring equal educational opportunities for women and
nificantly explained by their parents’ country of origin.17 So if girls, including in school athletics, has been largely credited
biased norms act as constraints, can they be changed, rather with contributing to changing, though not leveling, gender
than just offset? norms in schools and colleges.23 School systems can be useful
There is disagreement regarding the extent to which policy entry points for addressing norms early. Tanzania’s national
actions can and should change norms. Change is often grad- curriculum, for instance, includes gender-related material in
ual, if not lacking or even regressive, particularly for “sticky” its standard secondary school civics syllabus and examina-
norms related to gender roles in patriarchal societies.18 A re- tions.24 Participatory discussions on gender inequality in pub-
cent expert meeting concluded that the importance of ad- lic schools in Mumbai showed positive effects on children’s
dressing norms to influence behavior varies by topic, address- attitudes toward gender equality.25 School systems can also
ing norms is only one part of a comprehensive social change reform textbooks. Studies in several countries show textbooks
agenda, and a new positive norm can be more effective than reinforcing gender stereotypes through both text and im-
dismantling a negative one.19 Interventions to change social ages.26 Better evaluation is needed to test innovative school-,
norms have grown as an area of focus, particularly in public community-, and workplace-based interventions and to un-
health.20 There is growing evidence that well-designed, par- derstand the long-term effects.
ticipatory programs focused on transforming gender norms

Figure A. Share of the population agreeing that when jobs Figure B. Discriminating norms are associated with few
are scarce, a man should have more of a right to a job than a women working
woman
World
Ratio, female to male labor force participation

1.0 Uganda
100%
Azerbaijan
80% Denmark China Burkina Faso
South Asia 60% East Asia & Pacific 0.8 USA
40% South Africa
20% Japan Bangladesh
0.6
Dominican Republic Malaysia Mali
Mexico

0.4 Turkey
Europe & Central Asia Egypt
Middle East & North Africa
Iran
0.2 Iraq
Pakistan
Latin America & Caribbean
0.0
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Male Female
Believe men should have jobs priority

Source: World Values Survey data, 2005–08, and World Development Indicators for labor force participation, matching years
 Overlapping Constraints Across the Lifecycle   37

Figure 3.3. Women face overlapping constraints (percentages of women facing constraints)

Dominican Republic
Working Not Working
Education Education
Movement 43 Movement 55
47 20 16 52 15 18
15 14
2 3 2 7

3 4 4 4 8 5
1 1

1 2
Violence 1 3 Violence 1 5
10 1
Resources 12 0 1 Resources
0
17 29
0 0

Without restrictions Without restrictions

26 16

Ghana
Working Not Working
Education Education
Movement 51 Movement 45
53 14 13 62 14 6
12 10
4 9 5 7

5 7 6 2 11 11
2 1

3 4
Violence 1 6 Violence 2 11
19 1
Resources 17 0 3 Resources
2
35 49
1 0

Without restrictions Without restrictions

15 11

Nigeria
Working Not Working
Education Education
Movement 61 Movement 73
39 7 13 34 4 11
5 4
2 22 1 35

3 11 8 1 16 8
1 1

3 2
Violence 2 6 Violence 1 5
17 2
Resources 12 2 2 Resources
2
55 70
1 1

Without restrictions Without restrictions

12 7

Source: Team analyses of DHS data.

Note: The variables are as follows, all reported by women aged 20–49: movement = lack of autonomy in visiting friends or family, education = less than sec-
ondary school education, resource = a lack of autonomy in controlling household resources, and violence = experienced intimate partner violence (physical
or sexual) within the last 12 months. Figures represent the percentage of the full sample.
38   Gender at Work

non-working women report- For example, being young and living in a rural area significantly
“Many women in Uganda are
ing restricted movement in decreases a woman’s likelihood of being in the labor force in the
still held back by inadequate
Ghana, 62 percent have less Middle East and North Africa.34 In Guatemala, the gender gap
resources, lack of capital,
traditional and cultural norms than a secondary school ed- in illiteracy is four times higher among the indigenous popula-
that dictate that we must ucation. In each case, lim- tion than for the “ladino” population.35 A recent multi-country
be submissive and act like ited control over household analysis of census data in Latin American and African countries
women.’’ resources is usually accom- shows that the interaction between being female and belonging
panied by multiple other to a minority group (defined as native speakers of a minority lan-
—Woman fisher, Uganda, constraints. The fact that guage within the country) has a compounding effect on educa-
Status of the World’s Girls 2012 both working and non-work- tional attainment.36 This overlapping disadvantage is illustrated
ing women face overlapping with respect to primary school completion in Figure 3.4.
disadvantages reinforces the
Poverty is perhaps one of the most pervasive axes of exclusion
need for policy options to ad-
that compounds gender disadvantage. Multi-country data show
dress multiple constraints that could be contributing to gender
gender disparities in education and health outcomes are typically
gaps within the workforce and women’s exclusion from the labor
widest, and women’s control over their own income is usually low-
market altogether.
est, among women in the bottom quintiles of wealth and income.
Failure to address overlapping constraints can translate to There are large gender gaps, for example, in median grade attain-
policy failure. One of the clearest cases comes from the literature ment among young people, ages 15–19, in the bottom two wealth
on financial credit for impoverished women entrepreneurs. Un- quintiles in Benin, The Gambia, India, and Pakistan, whereas the
equal access to financial capital is an important wedge between gap virtually disappears in the highest quintile.37 Research in ru-
female and male entrepreneurs in developing settings.29 But is fi- ral India has found that parents express a desire to educate their
nancial capital, a key endowment, sufficient to close gender gaps sons and daughters equally, but opt to favor sons when resource
between firms? The evidence suggests not. Systematic reviews constraints require choices.38 In other words, while norms may
have revealed no significant effect of microloans overall on poor favor boys’ education in many settings, a family’s circumstances
women’s business outcomes.30 A randomized trial in Ghana also determine whether the norm translates to outcomes. In devel-
found that financial capital was not enough to grow subsistence oping countries, adolescent girls in the poorest quintiles in their
enterprises owned by women.31 Women who received cash grants countries have marriage and birth rates approximately three times
had greater pressures than men to share funds with others in the higher than those in the richest.39 This adds layers of disadvan-
family rather than invest in the business. The problem highlights tage. Perhaps the starkest example is the exacerbation of gender
hurdles related to women’s control over resources and bargaining inequality in fragile and conflict-affected situations (Box 3.2).
power within the home. Other unobserved constraints were also
likely at play.
Childhood and Youth: The Start of Un-
In contrast, the Targeted Ultra-Poor program, a successful inter-
equal Trajectories
vention run by BRAC in rural Bangladesh, combined two years
of intensive skills training and support with asset transfers (in the The child and youth years are especially critical for human tal-
form of a choice of livestock packages). The program resulted in ent formation through education and skills development, which
significant shifts for women from agricultural labor to running the WDR 2013 describes as fundamental to jobs. This section
small businesses and a 38 percent increase in earnings over four looks at the drivers behind early gender gaps and biases in educa-
years.32 This suggests that, especially for the poorest women who tion, skills, and aspirations.
experience multiple constraints, multicomponent programs and Expressed preferences about work often reflect early limits
linked services may be needed to complement financial capital or of aspirations and self-confidence. Aspirations are the hopes
to open up alternatives for women who would be better off in wage and ambitions that people have of achieving something. Self-con-
jobs than entrepreneurship. fidence, or what psychologists call “self-efficacy,” involves one’s
Gender disadvantage is compounded when women also ex- belief in her or his ability to overcome challenges and achieve
perience other marginalized identities. The effect of such inter- specific tasks.48 Aspirations and a sense of efficacy are fundamen-
secting axes of exclusion is well-substantiated in Inclusion Mat- tal to agency,49 and research shows that they are important pre-
ters.33 For example, an individual who is female, lives in poverty, dictors of work-related outcomes.50 Research shows that people
and belongs to an indigenous community is likely to face a greater struggle to attribute feminine characteristics to entrepreneurship
burden of overlapping disadvantages than an individual who has and achievement-related careers, and women appear to internalize
only one of these characteristics. Overlapping disadvantages can these biases in the forms of lower aspirations and confidence.51
stem from personal characteristics, including gender, age, poverty, Decades of psychological and sociological research have shown
sexual orientation, caste, race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, and how behaviors and aspirations are shaped by expectations and
life experiences, just to name a few. social interactions.52 Women’s and girls’ expressed aspirations are
 Overlapping Constraints Across the Lifecycle   39

Figure 3.4. Women are doubly disadvantaged by gender and ethnicity

80
percentage completed primary school

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Reference Minority Reference Minority Reference Minority Reference Minority Reference Minority
group group group group group group group group group group

Bolivia Mexico Peru Senegal Sierra Leone

Female Male

Source: Tas et al. 2013, using data from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series-International (IPUMS-I) initiative.
Note: Secondary school completion for ages 25 and above. Survey years for Bolivia, Mexico, Peru, Senegal, and Sierra Leone are 2001, 2010, 2007, 2002,
and 2004, respectively.

Box 3.2. Fragility, gender, and jobs

Fragile and conflict-affected situations create severe chal- heightened needs for children to participate in paid labor
lenges including for jobs.40 All of the fundamentals for (especially boys) or domestic work (especially girls), girls
growth tend to suffer in this context. Where institutions overall were particularly vulnerable to dropping out.44 Girls
and infrastructure are weak and there are high levels of in- are also especially vulnerable to early and forced marriage.45
security or instability, private investors may be reluctant to
While there are no easy answers, integrated service models
do business. Disrupted education and training mean that
that boost women’s agency and economic opportunities si-
people’s skills in these settings are often well below their
multaneously may be especially important. A small but grow-
potential. Fragility also contributes to the severity of more
ing evidence base offers promising examples. For instance, a
gender-specific constraints. Men can be traumatized by con-
flict, unemployed, and socially excluded.41 Insecurity and new World Bank-supported trial in the Democratic Republic
lack of infrastructure can disproportionately affect women’s of the Congo shows significant reductions of violence-related
mobility. Fragility and conflict tend to worsen gender-based trauma symptoms and significant increases in women’s earn-
violence, both in the household and as a weapon of war.42 ings among participants in a Village Savings and Loans Associ-
Female entrepreneurs in Afghanistan and Iraq face lower ation with an added psychosocial support component.46 Help-
mobility and especially high vulnerability to harassment and ing ex-combatants, typically men, reintegrate into economic
violence, hindering simple business transactions or building life is also key. A current evaluation of a World Bank-supported
networks.43 In Burkina Faso, Niger, Pakistan, the Philippines, project in Liberia is testing the effectiveness of an integrated
South Sudan and Zimbabwe, surveys conducted by Plan In- model that aims to support young adult ex-combatants in re-
ternational found that while both adolescent boys and girls habilitation and employment through agricultural skills train-
faced high dropout rates in periods of crisis, due largely to ing alongside life skills training and resettlement assistance.47
40   Gender at Work

constrained by the expecta- as high as 28 percent in West and Central Africa, 25 percent in
“Sending an older girl
to school is a wasted tions placed on them through East and Southern Africa, and 22 percent in South Asia. Higher
opportunity. What is a girl social norms and stereotypes birth rates are associated with a lower probability of women enter-
for if she cannot help her that begin early in life.53 In ing and staying in the labor market.65 In Chile, giving birth reduces
mother?” India and Ethiopia, longitu- a girl’s likelihood of completing secondary school by 37 percent.66
dinal research found that girls In developing countries, adolescent pregnancy and marriage go
—Grandmother, Mali, Status had lower self-efficacy and hand-in-hand—some 95 percent of adolescent pregnancies occur
of the World’s Girls 2012 lower educational aspirations in developing countries, and 9 in 10 of these occur within marriage
than boys, and that these out- or a union.67 One in three girls in developing countries, excluding
comes mirrored aspirations China, is married before her 18th birthday (about half in India and
by parents for their female three out of four in Niger).68 Incentives for early marriage are strong
and male children.54 Even within the first months of life, differ- among poor families in many cultures, including social pressure,
ent biases about girls’ capabilities related to motor skills and basic customary bride payments (incentivizing the bride’s family with
functioning have been documented.55 payments by the groom or his family), dowries (incentivizing the
husband’s family with property transferred from the bride or her
Many girls are still denied the basic right to learn due to
family), and the expectation that early marriage brings domestic
biased norms and traditional gender roles. Some 31 million
support to the husband’s family or sheds a perceived financial bur-
primary-aged girls and 34 million lower secondary-aged girls are
den on the bride’s family.69 In turn, these constraints erode girls’ fu-
out of school.56 In Iraq, girls between the ages of 11 and 24 are
ture economic opportunities.70 A study in Bangladesh found that a
2.5 times as likely as boys to cite a lack of family interest as their
one-year delay in marriage among girls between the ages of 11 and
reason for dropping out.57 Son-preference in Nepal is associated
16 increased their likelihood of attaining literacy by 6 percent.71
with higher female child labor and lower gender parity in educa-
tion.58 Among poor households, children may be held back from Girls’ mobility is often more restricted than boys. Reasons
schooling in order to work. In some cases these expectations are vary, but often include greater domestic responsibilities that make
stronger on boys and in other cases on girls, but both market and travel farther from home more difficult, safety concerns (harass-
domestic labor need to be taken into account. Research using ment or rape), unequal access to cars or bicycles, and cultural dis-
UNICEF data has suggested higher female child labor force rates approval of girls’ movements.72 Weak infrastructure can compound
(72 percent) compared to male (64 percent) overall when both the problem. In Ghana and South Africa, for example, girls have re-
market and domestic work are counted.59 The expectation for girls ported their lesser ability than boys to swim as a barrier to attending
to perform unpaid care work and domestic responsibilities is com- school (paths to school often flood during rainy season).73 Mobility
pounded by the belief that girls’ education offers less value. barriers are exacerbated by significant distances between home and
school. A survey of schoolgirls in the Dar es Salaam area of Tanzania
Biased expectations underlie educational streaming and indicated that 80 percent of girls had to travel one hour or longer
stereotypes, which in turn contribute to gender sorting in the to get to school; 13 percent of girls reported traveling three or more
world of work. Young women and men are typically concen- hours.74 The combination of girls’ restricted mobility, weak infra-
trated in the educational streams that are more associated with structure, and poor public transportation, combined with a lack of
social norms around “masculine” and “feminine” areas of work— local schooling options, adversely affect girls’ education.
such as science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields
for males, and arts, humanities, and human services for females Although most of the data on gender-based violence starts
(Figure 3.5).60 These patterns often exist despite good test per- with adulthood, the problem starts earlier. Trauma impairs basic
formance: across OECD countries, young women outperform functioning and schooling is sometimes directly disrupted. Chil-
young men in reading and show little difference in mathematics dren exposed to sexual abuse, domestic violence, and other forms
scores and none in science scores according to standardized tests of maltreatment have shown impaired social-emotional func-
(see Figure 3.6).61 This streaming is costly to women themselves. tioning and educational outcomes in adolescence, and lower job
In the United States, for ex- performance, job stability, and earnings into adulthood.75 Addi-
ample, although women rep- tionally, research shows that gender-based violence en route to and
“I was forced to leave school inside of schools—including by teachers—is a significant problem
in order to get married. I
resent only 24 percent of the
in many countries, including Liberia and Malawi, for example.76
was very young then. I was STEM workforce, they earn
divorced after eight months of 33 percent more when they
my marriage. I wish other girls work in these high-growth Productive Age: Constraints at Work
don’t suffer like me.’’ fields.62 The WDR 2012 argued that individual decisions on whether
Nearly one in five girls and how to participate in market work are conditioned by gen-
—Adolescent girl, Sudan, in developing countries be- der differences in (1) time-use patterns; (2) access to productive
Breaking Vows comes pregnant before her inputs, especially land and capital; and (3) the impacts of market
18th birthday.64 The figure is and institutional failures, including legal and regulatory frame-
 Overlapping Constraints Across the Lifecycle   41

Figure 3.5. Even where gender parity is reached in higher education, segregation persists

Thailand 2010

agriculture
Netherlands 2010
education
engineering, manufacturing,
Mongolia 2011 and construction
health and welfare
Lebanon 2011
humanities and arts
France 2009 social sciences, business, and law

Chile 2010 science

Azerbaijan 2011

Albania 2011

0 20 40 60 80 100
Percentage (%) of graduates, female

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.63

Note: Data represent female tertiary graduates as a percentage of all graduates in the given program.

Figure 3.6. There is little evidence of female underperformance in subjects often dominated by men

600

500
PISA Score (mean)

400

300

200

100

0
Reading

Reading

Reading

Reading

Reading

Reading
Science

Science

Science

Science

Science

Science

Science
Reading

Mathematics

Mathematics

Mathematics

Mathematics

Mathematics

Mathematics

Mathematics

OECD Brazil Russia Albania Tunisia Kazakhstan Vietnam

average
Non-OECD

Female Male

Source: OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009 data.
Note: PISA assesses students age 15.
42   Gender at Work

Figure 3.7. Gender-based time allocations have changed in industrialized countries, signaling shifting norms
Paid Work Unpaid Work

15 15
Change in time allocation (hours)

Change in time allocation (hours)

10 10

5 5

0 0

-5 -5

-10 -10

-15 -15

da
lia

ce

ay
s

m
da
lia

ce

ay
s

nd
n
nd

do
n

w
an
tra

na

la
do
w
an
tra

na

la

rla

r
rla

Fin

ng
Fr
r

No
Ca
s
Fin

ng
Fr

No
Ca
s

Au

he
Au

he

Ki
Ki

t
t

Ne

d
Ne

ite
ite

Un
Un

Male

Childcare Leisure Female

15 15
Change in time allocation (hours)

Change in time allocation (hours)

10 10

5 5

0 0

-5 -5

-10 -10

-15 -15
da

da
lia

lia
nd

ce

ay

nd

ce

ay
s

m
nd

nd
do

do
rw

rw
an

an
tra

tra
na

na
la

la
la

la
Fin

Fin
ng

ng
Fr

Fr
No

No
Ca

Ca
s

s
er

er
Au

Au
th

Ki

th

Ki
Ne

Ne
d

d
ite

ite
Un

Un

Source: Gimenez-Nadal and Sevilla 2012.

Note: The charts illustrate changes in mean time allocation (hours per week) among adults (ages 21–65) from the 1970s until 1997–2005, depending on
the country.

works.77 This section builds on these findings, showing how recent cases, policies that increase workplace flexibility or provide more
research has deepened insights into both the impact of gender part-time options may not overcome the barriers to women’s ca-
norms and roles and the ways in which restrictions on women’s reer mobility unless men take on more domestic work to offset
agency can compound or reinforce other constraints. demands on women’s time.
Workplace norms about characteristics of an “ideal worker” Norms typically impose unpaid caring and domestic respon-
can disadvantage women and privilege men when they intersect sibilities on women. On Norms and Agency presents findings from
with gender norms. Workplace norms typically favor people who interviews with over 4,000 women, men, boys and girls from 20
work full-time, and often those who are accessible and working
countries across all regions.81 It shows that norms about women’s
beyond even a traditional full-time job schedule.78 They are not
roles are closely formed around household and childcare activities.
compatible with the social and cultural pressures women face
with regard to domestic responsibilities. Case studies of the ICT These norms influence decisions about women’s use of time and
industry culture in India, Sri Lanka, and the United Kingdom participation in paid work. When we consider both paid jobs and
have found long hours and a “workaholic” ethic disproportion- domestic activities, women are generally busier than men.82 Time
ately affect women’s retention and promotion.79 Similar patterns surveys from 11 cities in Sub-Saharan Africa show that women
have been identified in other professions where women are in the spend more time on domestic activities than their male counter-
minority and less likely to be promoted, including law, invest- parts regardless of household status—head of household, wife, or
ment banking, and consulting in the United States.80 In these daughter.83
 Overlapping Constraints Across the Lifecycle   43

Figure 3.8. The share of elderly people is growing rapidly in Asian countries with low fertility rates are facing especially big
developing countries challenges on this front. In China, by 2050 the ratio of elderly
dependents will be more than triple the ratio of child dependents
(66 percent versus 18 percent).89 More innovation and research is
50
44 needed to inform effective and appropriate alternative elderly care
41
40 38 programs in developing countries.
36 35 34
In many countries, women legally do not have the same rights
Percentage (%)

30 26 as men, which codifies bias and stereotypes and condones dis-

19
22 criminatory behaviors. As the World Bank and IFC’s 2014 study
20
15 Women, Business and the Law (WBL) outlines, legal barriers to
9
11
women’s economic opportunities take many forms. They can limit
10
women’s economic opportunities, for example, by restricting their
ability to access institutions, own or use property, build credit, or
0
2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 2060 get a job. The WBL study assessed legal gender differentiations in
year
47 specific aspects across seven domains: accessing institutions, us-
Old-age dependency ratio Child dependency ratio
ing property, getting a job, providing incentives to work, building
credit, going to court, and protecting women from violence.90
Source: UN World Population Prospects data.
Note: Data are for less developed regions, ratio of children (< age 15) and
Of the 143 economies studied in 2013, 128 had at least one legal
elderly (> age 64) per 100 persons aged 15–64. differentiation. In many economies, women face the cumulative
effects of multiple legal constraints. Women are disadvantaged by
five or more legal differentiations in 54 economies and, in half of
those, there are 10 or more legal differences. Discrimination is the
Evidence from high-income countries shows that women’s and most common in the Middle East and North Africa, South Asia,
men’s time allocations can and do change (Figure 3.7).84 Women in and Sub-Saharan Africa (Figure 3.9). In six economies, women
industrial countries have increased the amount of time devoted to and men do not have equal property ownership rights; in 26,
paid work and reduced time doing unpaid work (such as household daughters and wives do not enjoy the same rights to inheritance
chores, meal preparation, and home maintenance), while men have as sons and husbands, and women do not enjoy the same rights to
shown reverse trends. Both women and men have increased time land or inheritance as men.
devoted to childcare, although to a larger extent among women.
This could reflect a combination of more flexible work options In economies with higher numbers of legal gender differentia-
(through paid maternity leave and part-time work, for example) tions, women are less likely to participate in the labor force, own
and increased awareness in high-income countries of the impor- businesses, or serve in management.91 While national income per
tance of time devoted to positive parent-child interactions for child capita appears to have no effect on the share of employers who
development. Nonetheless, women’s increased paid work time is are female, countries with more gaps in women’s economic rights
clearly enabled by reductions in unpaid work time—thanks, in had lower rates of female employers.92 Additionally, multi-country
part, to men’s increased domestic role sharing as well as labor-saving analyses suggest that laws constraining women’s working hours or
technological changes. Qualitative and intergenerational evidence types of employment—which exist today in about 75 countries,
suggests that these changes are taking place in developing countries including Costa Rica, Nigeria, and the United Arab Emirates93—
too, but they are much less tractable in societies with very tradi- limit employment opportunities and significantly increase gender
tional gender norms.85 A combination of policies is needed to help wage gaps.94
facilitate change. These will be reviewed in the next chapter. The good news is that progress is evident. Half of the legal con-
Elderly care demands placed on daughters, daughters-in-law, straints documented in 100 countries in 1960—on gender equal
and granddaughters are increasing. A survey in Australia found access to and control over assets, ability to sign legal documents,
that, up to age 25, women have greater caring responsibilities and fair treatment under the constitution—had been removed
for the sick, disabled, and elderly than for children.86 This bur- by 2010.95 East Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Ca-
den is increasing as life expectancies rise and fertility rates fall. A ribbean, and Sub-Saharan Africa (which began with the highest
survey of women with higher education in Brazil, Russia, India, numbers of legal differences) have all slashed the number of dis-
and China found that 69, 78, 94, and 95 percent of respondents, criminatory laws by more than half. Globally, the overall trend
respectively, had elder care responsibilities.87 The elderly demo- is toward reform of discriminatory laws, but advances need to
graphic is rapidly growing.88 In developing countries, the child accelerate.
dependency ratio is projected to fall by 20 percent from 2010 to When women have less mobility outside their homes, this
2050 whereas the old-age dependency ratio is expected to increase means less ability to seek training and support services, less free-
by 144 percent over the same period (Figure 3.8). Several East dom in employment choices, and more confined access to markets
44   Gender at Work

Figure 3.9. Percentage of countries with different numbers of sex-based legal differentiations by regions, and regional average
numbers of legal differentiations

Average 6 4 2 3 18 10 7
100
90
80
70
Percentage

60
50
40
30
20
10
0
East Asia Europe High-income: Latin America Middle East South Asia Sub-Saharan
& Pacific & Central Asia OECD & Caribbean & North Africa Africa

Number of legal differentiations: 0 0<#<3 3≤ #<5 5 ≤ # <10 ≥ 10

Source: Women, Business and the Law team analyses of WBL 2014 data.

and resources. In Sri Lanka, for example, women entrepreneurs easier.101 In the United States, the quality and diversity of women’s
are more likely than men to run businesses from their homes and networks has been shown to predict labor force participation.102
have a higher proportion of customers who live within one ki- More heterogeneous social networks can increase labor force par-
lometer of their location.96 There have been improvements over ticipation, entrepreneurial intentions, and access to valuable in-
time, but many women lack a say in their basic movement in formation, trade channels, technology, and capital.103 Yet women
many countries, including Bangladesh (37 percent in 2011), the tend to have more homogenous networks than men.104 Analysis
Democratic Republic of Congo (53 percent in 2007), Mali (67 of 67 developed and developing countries show that women are
percent in 2006), and Uganda (40 percent in 2011).97 less likely than men to know an entrepreneur.105 At the same time,
Restrictions on women’s mobility can limit opportunities personally knowing an entrepreneur significantly increased the
to build networks.98 Healthy social networks can provide added likelihood, for both women and men, of becoming an entrepre-
social protection in tough times, and they can expand one’s aspira- neur.106 In Zimbabwe, women’s poorer access to social networks
tions and economic opportunities.99 Research by the OECD finds has adversely affected rural non-farm enterprise development and
that people with more-exten- start-up, leaving them more reliant on non-governmental organi-
sive social networks tend to zations for capital. 107
“Distance does not play a have higher likelihood of em- Women remain highly underrepresented around the world
role in finding a job for men, ployment.100 In Vietnam, 38 in policymaking. In 2012, women represented 21 percent of
because they can travel if they percent of women business members of parliament worldwide (ranging from 13 percent on
want. It does play a role for a owners felt that their ability average in the Pacific to 42 percent in the Nordic countries),108 a
woman.” to network and form mento- minority of local councilors in all but four countries for which
ring relationships was more there are 2003–2008 data (Belarus, Costa Rica, Republic of Mol-
—Young woman, Yemen, challenging because they dova, and Ukraine), no more than one-fifth of mayors in 73 of 77
Opening Doors were female, compared to 14 countries for which there are 2003–2008 data, and a minority of
percent who perceived it as judges in all regions but Eastern Europe.109
 Overlapping Constraints Across the Lifecycle   45

This is relevant to gender equality in the world of work for at percent of GDP.119 Conser-
least two reasons. First, increased gender equality in voice and “There cannot be any equality
vative estimates of economic
between a man and a woman
meaningful political participation can increase the likelihood that costs of lost productivity due
because men make all the
policies and decisions will advance gender equality in the world to domestic violence range
decisions.”
of work. For example, a randomized experiment in India found between 1.2 percent of GDP
that village councils for which women were elected to the head in Tanzania and 2 percent —Adult male, Levuka, Fiji, On
role were more likely to invest in infrastructure that empowered of GDP in Chile120—about Norms and Agency
women.110 An analysis of 19 industrialized democracies from what most governments
1970 to 2000 found that women’s parliamentary presence signifi- spend on primary education
cantly influenced the adoption and scope of maternity and child- (1.5 percent).121 Notably,
care leave policies.111 those figures do not include costs associated with long-term emo-
Second, emerging evidence shows that exposure to women’s tional impact and second-generation consequences. One recent
leadership affects aspirations and stereotypes. Exploiting ran- study in the United Kingdom estimates the costs of domestic vi-
dom assignment of quotas for female representation in village olence linked to loss of life satisfaction at 10 percent of GDP.122
councils across India, Beaman and colleagues found that higher Women’s work and increased income may or may not reduce
female leadership led to significant increases in adolescent girls’ their exposure to gender-based violence.123 In Bangladesh and
educational and career aspirations.112 Education gender gaps were Tanzania, for example, analyses find a positive correlation be-
erased and girls spent less time on domestic responsibilities. In a tween work and domestic vi-
similar vein, a World Bank study found that increased participa- olence.124 This effect is worse
tion by women in state-level government with the help of political among women who enter “[W]omen are harassed in all
reservations (reserved seats in legislatures) significantly increased work with low education or sorts of ways; wife-battering
women’s business start-up.113 who married young. One ex- is quite common, too....There’s
Perhaps the most tragic and fundamental affront to wom- planation is that as women’s no one to advise them, no one
en’s basic freedoms is violence. Gender-based violence confronts bargaining power increases to turn to if they’re abused.
women across the world, without cultural or economic boundaries. and men’s household power The police won’t even show
A recent World Health Organization study documents that over or perceived role as primary up if you report a husband’s
35 percent of women worldwide have experienced either physical beating his wife.”
provider is challenged, men
or sexual partner violence or non-partner sexual violence.114 That may lash out and assert power
—Older woman in
is about 938 million women—more than the number of under- and control through other
Dimitrovgrad, Bulgaria, Voices
nourished people in the world (868 million) and about the same means—namely, violence.125 of the Poor: From Many Lands
as the number of people living in Africa. Gender-based violence Another possibility is that
takes many forms throughout the lifecycle—including psycho- lower-status women who ex-
logical, physical, sexual, and economic forms of violence—and perience higher levels of violence to begin with are more likely
occurs in multiple settings, including at home, in school, at the to enter the labor force in order to flee abuse. Women who enter
workplace, and in public spaces. the labor force with relatively high bargaining power and stronger
Although gender-based violence has long been recognized as a ability to leave an abusive relationship would not be expected to
human rights issue, the repercussions for economic opportuni- experience higher violence with increased income.126
ties also need to be recognized.115 For example, women exposed The findings reinforce the value of addressing women’s eco-
to partner violence in countries such as Tanzania and Vietnam nomic opportunities and agency in a more coordinated way. This
have shown higher work absenteeism, lower productivity, and starts with strong laws that address gender-based violence in all of
lower earnings than similar women who are not. Notably, even its spheres. Existing laws are often poorly enforced and can ignore
male perpetrators of partner violence in Vietnam had higher work important forms of violence, such as marital rape.127 As discussed
absenteeism following a violent episode.116 A meta-analysis of 41 in chapter 4, however, investments in good implementation of
studies showed negative impacts of sexual harassment on multi- laws, interventions for prevention, and services for survivors are
ple aspects of women’s well-being and job performance and sat- at least as important.
isfaction.117 Women in particular jobs and settings are especially
vulnerable to abuse and harassment. For example, recent research
in the Great Lakes region of Africa found high levels of exposure Elderly Years: The Culmination of Life-
to gender-based violence among women traders at the borders.118 long Disadvantage
Broader repercussions for business and development can fol- In elderly years, women face the cumulative effects of constraints
low. A study in Peru found significant costs of domestic vio- throughout their lives, including lower education and skills devel-
lence to companies through worker absenteeism, amounting to opment, fewer economic opportunities, exposure to gender-based
an estimated aggregate national cost to firms equivalent to 3.7 violence, and fewer rights to land and other productive inputs.
 46   Gender at Work

Figure 3.10. Elderly women in India are less independent than women workers, and mitigate potential tradeoffs for alleviating
elderly men youth unemployment by extending women’s retirement ages.134
100 Cumulative constraints in the world of work tend to leave
90
women less independent in old age. The combination of old age
80
and poverty imposes hardships regardless of one’s sex. The gender
70
aspects of disadvantage are complex and not always biased in one
60
direction.135 However, due to overlapping constraints resulting in
Percent (%)

50
fewer years of work, and different types of work, women are less
40
likely to have accumulated savings and social security entitlements
30
for their pension age.136 Across seven Asian countries, for example,
20
older women in every country were less likely than older men
10
to have received work-related pensions.137 In low- and middle-in-
0
come countries, women on average work 40–60 percent as many
male female male female years as men.138 This disadvantage translates to significant barri-
rural urban
ers to women’s independence in old age. A 2004 survey in India
Fully dependent on others Partially dependent on others Not dependent on others found that over 80 percent of elderly women (aged 60 and above),
compared with less than half of elderly men, are economically de-
pendent on others for basic daily needs (Figure 3.10).139
Source: National Sample Survey 2004.
Note: These data represent individuals aged 60 or older.
As this chapter has illustrated, persistent gender gaps in the
world of work can be explained by the multiple constraints that
occur not only in productive age but throughout the lifecycle.
These constraints need to be identified (see Resource Box 3.1 for
Additionally, caring responsibilities often fall on able elder women useful data sources) and tackled effectively with strategic policy
while younger women in the household increasingly enter the la- actions and private sector leadership. This is the focus of the next
bor force or migrate for work. The effects of gender discrimination chapter.
in inheritance laws are also amplified in elder years when women
are more likely to be widowed.128 Some added forms of discrimi-
Notes
nation, such as in retirement regulations, may also apply.
1. L. Bierman and R. Gely. 2004. “‘Love, Sex and Politics? Sure. Salary?
In old age, women face the double impact of norms and atti- No Way’: Workplace Social Norms and the Law.” Berkeley Journal of Employ-
tudes that embody both sexism and ageism. Numerous studies ment and Labor Law 25 (1): 167.
have documented the prevalence of stereotypes of older workers 2. WDR 2012.
as less able, less motivated, and less productive, despite evidence 3. Aigner, D.J. and G.G. Cain. 1977. “Statistical Theories of Discrimina-
that performance often improves with age and that there are much tion in Labor Markets.” Industrial and Labor Relations Review 30 (2), 175.
greater differences within rather than between age groups.129 Ad- 4. Goldin, C. and C. Rouse. 1997. “Orchestrating impartiality: The im-
ditionally, norms related to gender roles that constrain time con- pact of ‘blind’ auditions on female musicians.” American Economic Review 90
tinue to affect women’s work into old-age. As higher numbers of (4), 715-741.; Isaac, C. et al., “Interventions that affect gender bias in hiring:
younger women enter the labor force and migrate for work, older A systematic review.” Academic Medicine 84 (10): 1140-1146.
women are expected to pick up the unmet childcare and other 5. Bohnet, I. et al. 2012. “When Performance Trumps Gender Bias: Joint
domestic responsibilities.130 versus Separate Evaluation.” Working Paper 12-083, Cambridge, MA: Har-
vard Business School.
Statutory differences in retirement and pension ages remain
6. Manfre, C., D. Rubin, et al. 2013. “Reducing the Gender Gap in Agri-
in 49 countries.131 In Vietnam, different statutory retirement ages cultural Extension and Advisory Services: How to Find the Best Fit for Men
for women and men (55 versus 60, respectively) mean women are and Women Farmers.” MEAS Discussion Paper 2. Modernizing Extension
commonly overlooked for promotions or career development op- Advisory Services (MEAS).
portunities.132 In China, analysis has found that mandatory earlier 7. Manfre, C., D. Rubin, et al. 2013. “Reducing the Gender Gap in Agri-
retirement causes early labor force withdrawal of urban women.133 cultural Extension and Advisory Services: How to Find the Best Fit for Men
This disadvantage is compounded by the fact that many women and Women Farmers.” MEAS Discussion Paper 2. Modernizing Extension
miss years of work, and thus career advancement opportunities, Advisory Services (MEAS).
due to childrearing and other domestic responsibilities. Reform 8. Reidy, D., S. Shirk, C. Sloan, and A. Zeichner. 2009. “Men aggress
strategies for retirement and pension laws need to consider ap- against women: Effects of feminine gender role violation on physical aggres-
sion in hypermasculine men.” Psychology of Men & Masculinity 10 (1), 1–12;
propriate transition timing and sequencing of reforms, address Macmillan, R., and R. Gartner. 1999. “When she brings home the bacon:
the concerns of private sector actors who may prefer earlier retire- Labor-force participation and the risk of spousal violence against women.”
ment ages to create space for newer talent, protect ill and disabled Journal of Marriage and Family 61 (4), 947–58.
 Overlapping Constraints Across the Lifecycle   47

Resource Box 3.1. Data sources on deprivations and constraints

The next chapter discusses the importance of mixed-meth- ◆◆ Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (a coalition of uni-
ods gender diagnostics to better understand gender-related versities): An annual assessment of the entrepreneurial
jobs challenges and related constraints throughout the lifecy- activity, aspirations and attitudes of individuals across
cle. Multi-country data sources often provide a good starting a wide range of countries with data disaggregated by
point to identify problems and analyze potential correlates gender.143
with women’s economic outcomes in a country or set of
◆◆ The Global Financial Inclusion Database (Global Fin-
countries. The following are examples of multi-country data
dex) (World Bank): Measures how people in 148 coun-
sources in the public domain that can help shed light on pos-
tries—including the poor, women, and rural residents—
sible constraints (see notes for Website links):
save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk.144
◆◆ Demographic and Health Surveys (Measure DHS, ICF In-
ternational): DHS are nationally-representative household ◆◆ UNESCO Data Centre (UNESCO): The resource contains
surveys that provide data for a wide range of monitoring over 1,000 types of indicators and raw data on edu-
and impact evaluation indicators in the areas of popula- cation, literacy, science and technology, culture, and
tion, health, and nutrition. Topics include exposure to do- communication, which could be used to explore gender
mestic violence and attitudes toward women’s agency.140 differences in school participation and attainment as
well as streaming by subjects.145
◆◆ Gender data portal (World Bank): A one-stop shop for
gender information, catering to a wide range of users ◆◆ Women, Business and the Law (World Bank): Tracks
and providing data from a variety of sources. Data at the indicators based on laws and regulations affecting wom-
country level are organized under six thematic head- en’s prospects as entrepreneurs and employees in over
ings, which are aligned to the themes identified by the 140 countries.146
Inter-agency and Expert Group on Gender Statistics.141 ◆◆ World Values Surveys (World Values Survey Associa-
◆◆ Gender Data Portal (OECD): Targeting dimensions tion): The database allows for cross-country analysis of
of gender inequalities that are poorly monitored and people’s values and beliefs, how they change over time,
measured, the portal aims at progressively filling gaps and what social and political impact they have. The data
through new indicators in education, employment and include indicators on gender norms and attitudes, for ex-
entrepreneurship.142 ample toward schooling and labor force participation.147

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and Sustainability of the Social Security Fund. Hanoi: World Bank. 142. [Link]

133. Giles, J., et al. 2011. “The Labor Supply and Retirement Behavior of 143. [Link]
China’s Older Workers and Elderly in Comparative Perspective.” Policy Re- 144. [Link]
search Working Paper 5853. Washington, DC: World Bank.
145. [Link]
134. World Bank. 2009. Woman’s Retirement Age in Vietnam: Gender Equality
=143
and Sustainability of the Social Security Fund. Hanoi: World Bank.
146. [Link]
135. Knodel, J. and M. B. Ofstedal. 2003. “Gender and Aging in the De-
veloping World: Where Are the Men?” Population and Development Review 147. [Link]
 Igniting Gender
Equality in the
World of Work

Key messages

▶▶ Governments can play a critical role in leveling the playing field for
women’s economic opportunities.
▶▶ Sound jobs strategies to reduce gender inequality in the world of work
start with careful country-level diagnostics to understand local priori-
ties and key constraints to women’s work.
▶▶ The private sector is the largest source of jobs and therefore essential to
engage for equality in the world of work.
▶▶ Significant data and knowledge gaps pose major challenges to evi-
dence-based policy-making and need to be addressed.

Igniting gender equality in the world of work involves understanding local spec-
ificities and developing bold, coordinated actions to address overlapping disadvan-
tages. Informed by careful diagnostics that take into account gender considerations
across the lifecycle, policy makers can develop a multi-pronged approach.
Actions should be considered at three broad levels (Figure 4.1). First, reforms and
other actions may be needed to level the playing field for equality at work, including
addressing constraints across the lifecycle and reforming the “rules of the game”.
These actions are generally government-led with participation from the private sec-
tor and civil society organizations. Second, proactive private sector leadership and
innovation can encourage women’s participation and success in the world of work,
for example by establishing company policies and practices that relieve constraints
on women’s time, encourage men’s role in caring responsibilities, tackle discrimina-
tion in the workplace, and help women gain access to productive inputs. Third, clos-
ing data gaps and investing in knowledge will enable more evidence-based policy-
making and tracking of results. This is central to achieving and measuring the prog-
ress that is needed.
54   Gender at Work

Figure 4.1. Igniting equality at work: World Bank Group entry cations for social cohesion have been more mixed.4 Garment sec-
points tor jobs have enabled many women—particularly, young and un-
married women—to break from traditional norms by migrating
Country diagnostics — identify problems, priorities, and solutions from villages to cities for work, and they have enjoyed increased
social status through greater economic significance in the house-
Systematically integrate gender into jobs and growth strategies: hold and society.5 Yet the April 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza in-
1. Leveling the playing field: Government actions dustrial building in Bangladesh that killed 1,129 people, most of
▶▶ Long-term policy planning over the lifecycle whom were women garment workers, was a stark reminder of pos-
sible tension between cheap labor and protection of basic rights.6
▶▶ Remove formal biases and discrimination
The tragedy, along with others, has drawn increased attention to
▶▶ Link services to address multiple constraints women’s unsafe working conditions in the context of a weak reg-
2. Proactive leadership and innovation: Private sector actions ulatory environment, lack of freedom of association and collective
▶▶ Make gender equality a corporate priority bargaining, and low wages in the industry.7 The case highlights the
▶▶ Empower women to do non-traditional jobs need for diagnostics to consider not only job creation in key areas
of the labor market, but also to assess quality of work to inform
▶▶ Increase access to financial services
public and private sector actions (see Box 4.1).
3. Close data gaps and investing in knowledge
Identifying jobs priorities involves diagnosing key con-
▶▶ Comparable data, impact and process evaluation, case
studies
straints to good jobs for development. Diagnostics that take
lifecycle constraints into account can identify gender dispari-
ties both in access to the labor market and in labor productiv-
ity. However, they are also critically important for broad-based
Source: World Bank. efforts designed to tackle common constraints. Building on the
evidence and approach presented in this report, Table 4.1 offers a
potential set of initial questions and relevant data sources that can
Diagnostics be used to inform country assessments, including those focused
on improving jobs and growth. These are just starting points; as
Careful diagnostics are vital inputs into evidence-based policy- key priorities and issues are revealed more-detailed sets of ana-
making and practice. Multi-sectoral diagnostics can help de- lytical questions should emerge. For example, finding unequal
termine whether and to what extent gender is a policy priority, aspirations among girls and boys in youth years through consul-
which challenges for gender equality at work are most pressing, tations could lead to deeper queries about educational streaming
and which of the constraints fueling inequality across the lifecycle or stereotypes.
need to be addressed.
Comparing information from different data sources can tell a
Country diagnostics can help determine whether and how fuller story. Data from different sources can provide different and
gender should be a priority in jobs strategies. The WDR 2013 often complementary insights, and can be usefully compared. Key
outlined the importance of diagnosing country-specific jobs chal- quantitative and qualitative data sources for diagnostics include:
lenges and identifying those jobs that can add the most value to
◆◆ Multi-country datasets
development. Jobs challenges are frequently characterized by gen-
der disparities across multiple labor market indicators. Given the ◆◆ Labor force and population census surveys
pervasiveness of these disparities, the question is rarely whether ◆◆ Household surveys
gender equality in the world of work should be a priority, but
◆◆ Firm surveys
rather where in the labor market to focus.
◆◆ Administrative data (on education or access to justice, for
Importantly, the three development areas in which the WDR
example)
2013 posited that jobs can have a transformative effect—live-
lihoods, productivity, and social cohesion—are not always ◆◆ Consultations and focus groups
aligned and can even conflict. This has important implications Data disaggregated by sex and age are critical to both a gen-
for gender equality in the world of work, as it reinforces the need der-informed and lifecycle approach to policy-making, though this
for multi-sectoral diagnostics and coordinated policies to identify disaggregation is often missing with key indicators. Multi-country
and mitigate tradeoffs. In Bangladesh, for example, the expansion data sets can provide useful statistics for analyses and allow for
of the garment sector has created millions of jobs for women.1 In benchmarking a country’s status on a particular indicator relative
turn, these jobs have increased women’s earnings, reduced poverty, to others. A World Bank Group tool, ADePT Gender, can serve
and increased girls’ education levels.2 They have added productiv- as a particularly useful resource to help diagnose and analyze gen-
ity value by providing a skilled, dependable, and relatively cheap der inequalities across the lifecycle using existing datasets (see Re-
labor force in a sector with strong export orientation.3 The impli- source Box 4.1).8
 Igniting Gender Equality in the World of Work   55

Box 4.1. Beyond having a job: gender and the Decent Work Agenda
Most jobs can contribute to people’s agency and well-being and measure of “quality work” intended for both developed
on some level, but some jobs do more than others.8 The ILO and developing countries that includes the following seven
has championed standards for people’s work through the dimensions:12
Decent Work Agenda. The ILO describes decent work as “op- ◆◆ Safety and ethics of employment—including safety at
portunities for women and men to obtain decent and pro- work, fair treatment in employment, and the absence of
ductive work in conditions of freedom, equity, security and child and forced labor
human dignity.”9 The agenda centers on four strategic policy
◆◆ Income and benefits from employment
objectives: fundamental principles and rights at work and
international labor standards, productive and freely chosen ◆◆ Work-life balance—including working hours, time
employment, social protection, and social dialogue.10 A gen- arrangements, and the ability to balance work and
der equality “lens” runs through each aspect of the agenda,11 non-working life
and frequently reveals women’s disadvantage across each of ◆◆ Security of employment and social protection
these dimensions, especially in developing countries. The De-
◆◆ Social dialogue—including the freedom to organize,
cent Work Agenda applies to all types of employment, formal
strike, and collectively bargain with employers
and informal, paid and unpaid. Given that women workers are
more heavily concentrated into informal jobs and self-em- ◆◆ Skills development and training opportunities
ployment, it is particularly important that actions to improve ◆◆ Workplace relationships and work motivation
the quality of work in developing countries target gender in-
These types of standards for quality work can contribute to
equalities in these types of activities.
labor market diagnostics that consider gender sorting into
Recent initiatives have extended the Decent Work Agenda to types of jobs and industries. Similarly, they can also inform
define higher standards of quality work. For example, build- firm-level diagnostics within companies to assess the quality
ing on the ILO’s framework of decent work, the United Nations of employees’ experiences broadly, as well as differences by
Economic Commission for Europe developed a framework gender.

Typically it is desirable to supplement statistics from multi-coun- In response, a World Bank-funded project was launched to
try datasets with country-specific surveys using sex-disaggregated strengthen agricultural productivity through efforts including
data as well as qualitative research and consultations. Women and a financial literacy program for female agriculture producers
men, young people, employers, civil society organizations, and and traders and gendered capacity-building with the Ministry
public sector leaders can add valuable insights. These sources of of Agriculture.
evidence can be especially important in the poorest or most trou-
◆◆ In Lao People’s Democratic Republic, a joint World Bank and
bled countries where data gaps are common.
Asian Development Bank gender assessment found persistent
The World Bank Group has accumulated valuable experience wage gaps, self-employed women running smaller businesses,
through jobs and growth diagnostics as well as country gender and occupational streaming by gender, as well as disparities
assessments, both of which have identified gender-specific con- in time use. Women entrepreneurs reported greater difficulty
straints and informed policy priorities for gender equality in the accessing finance and technical skills. The assessment recom-
world of work. Some illustrations include the following: mended strategies to expand wage labor opportunities for
◆◆ In Kenya, although women make up about half of micro, women and men in industries that were more likely to bene-
small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), their businesses fit both, improved access to finance and business training for
tended to be much smaller, less likely to grow, and to have women entrepreneurs, and increase women’s participation in
less investment than men’s businesses.9 The assessment found infrastructure jobs such as mining operations.10
that eliminating gender inequality in education and access
to agricultural inputs could boost output by as much as 4.3
percentage points of GDP. Corresponding recommendations Three Levels of Action
included increasing women’s property rights and access to fi- Guided by the priorities and needs identified through diagnos-
nance and justice. tics, actions may be needed at three levels. This approach builds
◆◆ In Haiti, where statistical capacity is weak, focus group on the WDR 2012, which highlights both the importance of
consultations with women farmers identified multiple con- formal institutions and markets for driving positive change and
straints, including low levels of education and capacity-build- the need for data and evidence to inform actions on the part of
ing, time constraints, and men’s resistance to their leadership. both institutions and markets. Through a combination of financ-
56   Gender at Work

Table 4.1. Diagnosing constraints across the lifecycle

Life stage Considerations Possible data sources

Child and youth Constraints and opportunities for action ◆◆ World Bank Gender Data Portal
years ◆◆ Are girls and boys equally and adequately nourished and provided with a stimulating, ◆◆ WHO Global Database on Child Growth and Malnu-
trauma-free environment, starting in their first days of life? trition
◆◆ Do girls and boys achieve equal educational attainment and performance and have ◆◆ ILO School-to-Work Transition Survey
equal opportunities to develop cognitive, non-cognitive, and vocational skills that ◆◆ UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys
prepare them for good jobs?
◆◆ World Values Surveys
◆◆ Do girls and boys have different levels or kinds of career aspirations?
◆◆ Demographic and Health Surveys
◆◆ Can girls and boys move safely and freely in society?
◆◆ UNESCO Institute of Statistics
◆◆ Are there strong pressures on girls’ or boys’ time, such as domestic or market work?
◆◆ UNFPA Data for Development
◆◆ Are there high rates of early marriage or adolescent pregnancy?
◆◆ Is gender-based violence occurring in homes, schools, or communities?

Productive age Labor force characteristics ◆◆ World Bank Gender Data Portal
years ◆◆ How do labor force participation rates, sectoral composition of work, employment ◆◆ ILO KILM
type, vulnerable work, agricultural work, and earnings differ by gender and across age
groups? ◆◆ Labor force surveys
◆◆ Are poor women more/less likely to work than non-poor women? ◆◆ Women, Business and the Law
◆◆ Firm surveys (including Enterprise Surveys)
Labor productivity and employment growth by sector
◆◆ What has been the rate of growth of labor productivity in sectors with high shares of ◆◆ Time use surveys
working poor women and men? ◆◆ Global FINDEX
◆◆ Has productivity growth translated into higher earnings for both women and men? ◆◆ World Values Surveys
Constraints and opportunities for action ◆◆ Demographic and Health Surveys
◆◆ Do legal and tax frameworks provide an equitable foundation of opportunities and
incentives for women and men’s work?
◆◆ Do women have to spend more time than men on caring responsibilities and house-
work?
◆◆ Do employer practices, labor policies, services, and infrastructure alleviate or exacer-
bate constraints on women’s time?
◆◆ Do women and men have equal access to on-the-job training and career opportuni-
ties?
◆◆ Do women and men farmers and entrepreneurs enjoy equal access to key productive
inputs and networks?
◆◆ Do women and men enjoy equal access to public works programs and other forms of
social protection?
◆◆ Is gender-based violence occurring in homes, workplaces, or communities?

Elderly years Constraints and opportunities for action ◆◆ All of the above
◆◆ All of the above that applies to productive age years ◆◆ Women, Business and the Law
◆◆ Are there legal differences in retirement or pension ages, and do these have conse-
quences for gender equality at work?
◆◆ Do elderly women and men enjoy equal levels of autonomy and social protection?
 Igniting Gender Equality in the World of Work   57

Resource Box 4.1. Using ADePT Gender to support country diagnostics

ADePT Gender is software designed to facilitate the main- Examples of ADePT Gender output from gender and labor
streaming of gender in poverty and labor analysis. It is or-
ganized in two parts. The first produces a multi-dimensional
diagnostic of gender inequality in a country in the form of a
large set of simple tabulations and graphs. The second part
goes deeper into gender inequalities in the labor market, pre-
senting a comprehensive set of measures of earnings inequal-
ity.
Country Gender Profile: ADePT Gender presents information
on gender gaps for several outcomes grouped following the
three dimensions: health and human capital (endowments);
economic opportunities; and voice, agency, and participation.
Outcomes include rates of enrollment and attainment in all
levels of education, user-defined health outcomes includ-
ing those relevant for children and for reproductive health,
rates of employment, unemployment and out-of-the labor
force, occupational segregation indices, and participation in
decision-making over different household expenditures. The
sex-disaggregated outcomes are available for different vul-
nerable population groups.
Gender and Labor: ADePT Gender produces measures of
overall inequality and within-gender earnings inequality, as
well as measures of gender pay gaps for two groups of the
employed population: wage workers and the self-employed.
Examples of measures are 90/10 percentile ratios and Gini,
Theil, and Atkinson inequality measures adjusted to earn-
ings. It also computes several decompositions of gender gaps
in pay for wage workers and self-employed workers and as-
sesses occupational segregation with the Duncan index.

ing, convening power, and multidisciplinary expertise, the World In working toward greater gender equality in the world of work,
Bank Group can play a catalytic role at each of these levels. it is important to consider two types of actions: (1) broad actions
that are designed to improve country competitiveness and job cre-
1. Leveling the playing field: government actions ation overall but can have disproportionately positive effects for
across the lifecycle women’s work, and (2) targeted actions to remove or offset gen-
der-specific constraints (Figure 4.2). This chapter focuses on the
A lifecycle approach to equality at work more fully accounts for targeted policy actions, but this does not discount the importance
varied constraints that, as they emerge at different stages, can have of broad-based actions for women’s economic empowerment. In
major implications for the nature and extent of women’s eco- early childhood, for example, experimental research in Jamaica
nomic opportunities. This section reviews policy options related and the U.S. shows girls experiencing larger gains than boys from
to gender dimensions of fundamentals and prioritized constraints
programs targeting early childhood development.11 During pro-
at three broad stages of the lifecycle, and it draws on evidence
ductive age years, inefficient and corrupt business regulatory envi-
related to labor policies and gender for the adult years. National,
ronments can have disproportionately adverse impacts on women
subnational, and municipal governments can all play important
entrepreneurs because of the constraints on their time and mobil-
roles in helping to level the playing field for women’s work. Co-
ity as well as their vulnerability to harassment.12
ordinated engagement from the private sector, donors, and civil
society organizations can increase the likelihood of success. In Consequently, reforms that may benefit everyone may be es-
low-capacity settings, such as many fragile and conflict-affected pecially important for women’s economic opportunities. Some
situations, coordination and engagement among non-govern- research indicates that women may stand to gain more than men
mental actors have elevated the importance of actions to level the from rural electrification projects (because the projects increase
playing field. women’s time and the demand for labor in small enterprises),
58   Gender at Work

Figure 4.2. Both broad-based and targeted actions across the for teachers and other educational staff. Further trials of similar
lifecycle can contribute to gender equality in the world of work approaches in other settings would increase their generalizability.
On the demand-side, cash transfers to poor families can help
Elderly years offset fees and hidden costs and counter normative pressures
Productive age years on girls’ early marriage and school drop-out. They can also off-
set short-term income losses suffered by poor households that
Child and youth years
would otherwise have children working. A recent systematic re-
view found that conditional cash transfers tend to have larger
Targeted actions to
effects on child educational participation, especially girls’, than
address gender specific
unconditional cash transfers, particularly when explicit schooling
constraints
ycle
ec conditions for payments are included, monitored, and enforced.17
Lif
Where social norms are especially biased against girls’ schooling,
Broad actions with
increasing incentives for girls’ outcomes in cash transfer models
gendered dividends can help offset constraints; this been successful, for example, in
Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Turkey.18
Investing in equitable and market-oriented skills develop-
ment through multicomponent programming can reduce
gender sorting. In 2010, the World Bank launched Skills toward
though rigorous studies into the gender differences and similar- Employment and Productivity (STEP), a framework to help poli-
ities of electrification impacts are surprisingly few.13 Similarly, cymakers and researchers “think through the design of systems to
older worker policies that provide retraining and employment impart skills that enhance productivity and growth.”19 The frame-
services and invest in flexible and home-based work options may work centered on a lifecycle approach (Figure 4.3) with many of
be needed overall, but could also have disproportionately positive the foundational investments required in childhood and youth.
effects for women—because women tend to outnumber men in At each stage, males and females should have equal access to
their elder years and are more likely to face disadvantage in the high-quality and engaging opportunities to develop the skills that
labor market.14 align with short- and long-term jobs strategies. As the framework
highlights, actions should focus on both the foundational cogni-
These opportunities reinforce the importance of both apprais-
tive and non-cognitive skills and the market-specific technical and
ing the gender-specific implications of seemingly gender-neutral
business skills that are needed to support good jobs for develop-
policies and including sex-disaggregated data in the monitoring
ment in a particular context.
and evaluation of reforms. Now we turn to more targeted actions,
which we divide into three parts: child and youth years, produc-
tive age years, and elderly years.
Child and Youth Years
Child and youth years Challenges and some promising solutions
Given gender-specific impediments to schooling, supply- Barriers to Schooling for Girls
and/or demand-side actions may be needed. Supply-side ac-
◆◆ Reduce distance and mobility barriers to schools
tions include increasing the accessibility and suitability of schools
for girls. Given girls’ greater mobility restrictions, they typically ◆◆ Provide gender-sensitive facilities
stand to benefit more from efforts to build local schools, especially ◆◆ Implement cash transfers to offset schooling costs
in remote areas. A randomized trial in Afghanistan showed that ◆◆ Increase incentives for girls’ schooling where biased norms are strong
reducing the distance to schools by increasing community-based
education significantly increased children’s enrollment rates and Skill-building Opportunities for Female Youth
test scores with larger effects for girls.15 Sensitive design features (TVET and ALMP specific interventions)
can also help. A randomized trial in Burkina Faso found that the ◆◆ Implement multicomponent interventions with multi-month duration
implementation of “girl-friendly” schools significantly increased ◆◆ Engage businesses as partners
enrollment for both girls and boys, but, again, more for girls.16
Unique elements of “girl-friendly” schools included separate la- ◆◆ Target incentives and outreach to recruit young women
trines for girls and boys, incentives designed to increase girls’ atten- ◆◆ Arrange child care and transportation options
dance, information campaigns directed toward parents, increased ◆◆ Tackle occupational segregation with better information
recruitment of female teachers, and gender-sensitivity training
 Igniting Gender Equality in the World of Work   59

Figure 4.3. Implementing STEP as an integrated set of programs across workers’ lifecycles

Source: World Bank (2010).

Young women often benefit more than young men from youth involved multiple components, including six-months of training
employment programs, possibly because women especially need followed by six-months of job placement and advisory services.25
the help to overcome additional constraints and because some of Gender-informed design and recruitment strategies can increase
the programs specifically seek to reduce occupational segregation the reach and impact of TVET and ALMP interventions. For
through training and job placement.20 Overall, however, technical example, actively recruiting young women, modifying selection
and vocational education and training (TVET) and active labor criteria, and providing targeted scholarships or financial support
market programs (ALMPs) geared toward youth business skills, could increase gender parity in recruitment, though more evalua-
employability, and employment have had mixed results.21 A recent tion is needed to test different approaches. In all regions but Latin
randomized evaluation of a nine-day employability skills training America and the Caribbean, girls are enrolled in lower rates than
for young women with secondary education or above in Jordan boys in vocational or technical training.26 Meanwhile, creating
found no effects on employment.22 safe spaces, arranging childcare options, recruiting more female
When does skills-training benefit young women’s work? Evi- instructors, and providing information and preparation for wom-
dence reviews suggest that the most promising models are multi- en’s participation in non-traditional fields could improve program
component—combining, for example, on-the-job training, class- delivery and effectiveness for young women.27 TVET and ALMP
room components, life skills training, and counseling.23 Engaging interventions should avoid reinforcing occupational segregation.
the private sector helps to identify and build market-relevant skills. Often, young people choose course subjects based on deficient
For example, by forming business links to deliver classroom-based information, or misinformation, about which trades are suit-
training that responded to actual labor market needs and facilitate able or highest earning. These patterns are frequently gendered.
on-the-job training, an active labor market program in Colombia In Kenya, for example, a randomized trial found that men more
increased earnings of young women who dropped out of second- typically opt for “male-dominated” fields in vocational training,
ary school by 20 percent, as well as their likelihood of working in such as motor-vehicle mechanics, while women choose more “fe-
formal-wage jobs.24 male-dominated” courses, such as hairdressing. It also found how-
ever that giving participants better information about the market
Program duration may also be a significant factor. Compared to for each trade can significantly influence subject choices.28
the abovementioned nine-day course in Jordan, the intervention
in Colombia exposed young people to six months of classroom
and on-the-job training. Similarly, a randomized evaluation found Productive age years
large effects on employment and earnings for a World Bank-sup- A level playing field in working-age years starts with fair pol-
ported a skills-training program for young women in Liberia that icy frameworks. This includes reforming macroeconomic policies
60   Gender at Work

and information on land rights, for poor women farmers in par-

Productive Age Years ticular has been supported by a high level of evidence.31 Manda-
Challenges and some promising solutions tory and default joint titling have shown positive results for wom-
Legal Framework en’s economic empowerment.32 In a study of 98 economies, equal
inheritance rights were found to increase the likelihood of having
◆◆ Consider mandatory joint titling to increase women’s land ownership
a formal bank account and formal credit.33 The Hindu Succes-
◆◆ Extend labor regulation to the informal sector, especially those dominated sion Act Amendment in India provided for equality of inheritance
by women, such as domestic work rights between daughters and sons. The reform not only increased
Time Poverty women’s likelihood to inherit land, but also delayed daughters’ age
◆◆ Increase parental leave and flexible work arrangements for men and
of marriage and raised their educational attainment.34
women Other legal reforms may also have important implications for
◆◆ Invest in time-saving technology for women women outside of formal sector work. Some countries have ex-
tended labor regulations to the informal sector. In Brazil, the con-
Inequitable Access to Productive Inputs
stitution explicitly includes domestic workers within its equality
◆◆ Correct biases in service delivery provisions that guarantee, among other things, minimum wages,
◆◆ Improve credit markets parental leave, retirement pensions, and social security. Similarly,
a recently enacted law in the Philippines, the Domestic Workers
Act, or Batas Kasambahay (Republic Act 10361, An Act Institut-
ing Policies for the Protection and Welfare of Domestic Work-
and legal and regulatory frameworks to address market and insti- ers, signed into law on January 2013), extends legal protection
tutional failures that disadvantage women’s work. As discussed in ensuring basic labor rights and addressing labor trafficking and
chapter 3, some policies explicitly discriminate against women. domestic servitude. In India, where more than 90 percent of
These include, for example, labor codes that prohibit women from working women are in informal employment, collective action
doing certain jobs or working during particular hours, or property by the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) led to policy
or inheritance laws that explicitly defer rights to men. Often, how- changes that extended minimum wage to garment workers and
ever, policy frameworks are unfair because they compound exist- provided legal protection for street vendors and social security for
ing constraints to women’s agency. In the Middle East and North informal workers.35
Africa, for example, large government subsidies to households
While equitable legal frameworks are critical, they are only
have had the unintended consequence of discouraging women’s
as good as their implementation. Weak implementation by the
employment because women are considered secondary earners.29
authorities, low awareness, and a lack of complementary inter-
The IMF recently highlighted how some tax structures can sim-
ventions can all limit the impacts of reform.36 In Ethiopia and
ilarly disadvantage women. Because women’s labor force activity
Mozambique, for example, research has found widespread lack
appears to be more sensitive than men’s to taxes, replacing family
of awareness related to key laws and provisions on land rights,
income taxation with individual income taxation or otherwise re-
particularly in rural areas.37 Awareness can be raised through spe-
ducing the tax burden on secondary earners (typically women) in
cific initiatives. Examples include community-based awareness
some countries could boost women’s work.30 Legal frameworks
campaigns, paralegal services, and consultations with local offi-
can indirectly disadvantage women when they include “head of
cials—as in Cambodia, Colombia, and the Democratic Repub-
household” provisions that give property or other rights to a sin-
lic of Congo—to increase women’s and local leaders’ awareness
gle head of household, who is often male. A careful review of tax
of property rights.38 Actions need to ensure that good laws are
regimes and legal frameworks
complemented by access to justice. In Indonesia, for example, the
“She can get property, but with a gender lens can bring
World Bank’s Justice for the Poor initiative supported reforms and
she can’t own property. For adverse effects of seemingly
programs that waived religious court fees for the poor, extended
example, if her brother gives “gender-neutral” policies to
rural legal services, disseminated information to women in villages
her a cow, it is hers. But before the fore.
on their legal rights, and engaged multiple stakeholders at the dis-
she sells it to someone else, Reforms that address con- trict level (including judges, public prosecutors, police, and local
she must consult the man straints to women’s work government officials) to facilitate institutional awareness and ac-
(brother or husband) and outside of the formal sector tion around women’s rights.39 The Democratic Republic of Congo
the man must agree. Even are particularly important for has implemented mobile gender courts in order to facilitate wom-
the woman herself is your
poor female farmers and en- en’s access to justice in remote areas.40
property.”
trepreneurs—especially with
Policies are needed to overcome constraints to women’s
—Adult male, Liberia, On
respect to property and inher-
time. This involves increasing both women’s time for paid work
Norms & Agency itance laws. The positive im-
and men’s time for (and dedication to) caring and other domestic
pact of extending land rights,
responsibilities. To this end, a United Nations report to the Gen-
 Igniting Gender Equality in the World of Work   61

eral Assembly argued that government policies should position make female hiring more costly by requiring that employers
care as a social and collective responsibility, rather than one placed assume the costs of maternity leave.44 Second, leave and flexi-
solely on women’s shoulders.41 Depending on country context, bility policies should strengthen opportunities and incentives
time constraints can be alleviated by improving parental leave for men to share in domestic responsibilities (without reduc-
and flexible work policies, expanding early child development ing the leave and flexibility available to mothers). Focusing
and child care services, investing in women’s access to time-saving on maternity leave alone reinforces women’s gender roles as
technology and infrastructure, and innovating to increase men’s primary care-providers.45 Evidence from the United King-
active participation in caring and domestic responsibilities. dom indicates that flexible work options may increase men’s
◆◆ Increasing parental leave and flexible work arrangements for caring responsibilities, and research from the United States
both women and men. These policies will have greater impacts suggests that increasing men’s eligibility for childcare leave
in advanced economies in which large shares of women’s jobs increased their likelihood of dressing, feeding, bathing, and
are in formal employment for an employer. First, evidence getting up at night nine months after birth.46 Often, however,
from high income countries has shown paid maternity leave where these policies exist, the amount of leave to which men
and flexible work policies to have positive effects on women’s are entitled is too little to make a difference in shifting gender
economic opportunities.42 Legal expansion of maternity leave relationships. In South Africa, for instance, the labor code
in Germany has had significant effects on mothers’ return to entitles men to only three days of paid leave per year to be
work behavior after childbirth, and reduced turnover pre- used at the time of the birth of a child or sickness or death of
served good job-employee matches.43 However, these policies a family member.47
can discourage firms from hiring women if maternity leave ◆◆ Expanding early child development and childcare services. Early
is not publically financed. For example, Ghana’s labor laws child development and childcare services that can free wom-

Box 4.2. Navigating the many policy options for childcare services and financing
Expanding access to affordable childcare can be effective in a day-care home where there is a “mother-in-charge”
for both developed and developing country settings. Ap- trained in health care, early childhood stimulation, and
proaches vary, however, with countries employing a variety basic nutrition.55
of delivery and financing models for childcare services.52 In ◆◆ Childcare cooperatives in India: SEWA organizes childcare
some cases, governments manage public childcare centers to support women working in agriculture and self-em-
to extend needed services and enable greater quality control.
ployment through local cooperatives.56 The SEWA expe-
This, however, could require large capital investments and
rience shows that building trust among poor women to
crowd out market-based provision of care where affordable
rely on non-family caretakers can take time, but good
private services are already widely available. Public vouchers
outreach, providing clear information, and employing
for families or direct public financing of private sector provid-
local women can help.57
ers may be more cost-effective where feasible,53 though addi-
tional training and accreditation elements may be needed to ◆◆ Preschool in Mozambique: A randomized evaluation
ensure adequate labor supply and quality of delivery. Some found that having children attend preschool centers in
models require parents to pay a fee, which can be tied to rural areas increased caregivers’ probability of working
household income, subsidized, or waived altogether for the in the 30 days prior to the survey by 26 percent, and it
poorest households. Financing schemes should be carefully even increased 10- to 15-year-olds’ school attendance by
designed so as to ensure accessibility to the poor. Research 6 percent—presumably due to adolescent girls’ reduced
from countries as diverse as Brazil, Canada, Kenya, and Roma- caring burden for younger children.58 Participating chil-
nia suggests mothers are more likely to use formal childcare dren also experienced gains in primary school enroll-
arrangements and enter the labor force when free or low- ment and key child development outcomes.
cost childcare options are available.54 Cost-benefit analyses of ◆◆ Childcare vouchers in Mexico: The Estancias Infantiles
childcare schemes should consider returns based on assess- program provides vouchers covering 90 percent of the
ments of both women’s increased earnings and child devel- cost of childcare for children up to age four for women
opment outcomes. Examples of design approaches to extend who are either in paid employment, currently enrolled
childcare services to poor women and their children in devel- in an educational or vocational program, or seeking
oping contexts include: employment.59 The program increased the probability of
◆◆ Daycare centers in Peru: The Ministry of Education, in part- employment by 5 percent and increased average earn-
nership with multilateral organizations, has expanded ings by 20 percent among eligible women who partici-
Wawa Wasi, a low-cost daycare program. For a small fee, pated; it also generated approximately 45,000 paid jobs
working mothers leave children under three years old for providers and aids, who are mainly women.60
 62   Gender at Work

Figure 4.4. Enrollment of children in preprimary education Targeted infrastructure projects can help increase women’s
remains very low in low-income countries time for paid jobs. Increasing the uptake of safe, fuel-efficient
cookstoves in poor households can significantly cut down
the time women spend collecting firewood while improving
100
women’s and children’s respiratory health and reducing defor-
80
estation.63 In Cambodia, the National Improved Cookstove
Program reduced the amount of time women devoted to col-
% gross enrollment

60
lecting firewood and their incomes by selling low-cost, fu-
el-efficient cookstoves largely through local female vendors.64
40 Better irrigation systems and clean water supplies can also cut
back on women’s hours of water-fetching while improving
20 health outcomes. Research in Pakistan, for instance, has found
that women’s access to better water-supply infrastructure was
0 associated with greater time allocation to income-generating
2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011
activities.65 Carefully planned road improvements and public
Low-income Lower middle–income World
transport can increase women’s mobility and reduce the time
Upper middle–income High-income that women spend traveling by foot.66 It can be useful to assess
gender differences in travel patterns and design infrastructure
projects accordingly, as has been done recently in Yemen.67
Source: World Development Indicators.
These analyses consistently show that transport is not gender
neutral. While the evidence is clear on the need for infra-
structure investments as part of a comprehensive agenda to
en’s time can include a wide range of programs and models, increase gender equality in the world of work, there have been
such as preschool, crèches, daycare centers, home-based care, few rigorous evaluations on the effect of large-scale infrastruc-
and cooperatives of childcare support (see Box 4.2). Quality ture projects on women’s time allocation. This should be a
and affordable childcare services are often a win-win for both focus going forward.
mothers’ economic opportunities and children’s development. ◆◆ Innovating to increase men’s fathering roles and participation in
This is important for appraising the return on investment of domestic responsibilities. Outside of formal sector labor regu-
public financing of childcare services; depending on the de- lations in developing countries, there is very little evidence
sign and quality of services provided, they can yield dividends on what works to encourage men to assume a higher share
for society and country competitiveness through current and of domestic responsibilities, and few parenting programs ad-
future generations. A World Bank analysis suggests that add- dress father engagement and men’s roles.68 Policy actions can
ing one year of preschool education in Turkey could increase include public initiatives and campaigns to encourage men’s
female labor force participation by nine percent.48 In terms of caring roles. For example, a public initiative in Chile, Empa-
child outcomes, a systematic review of rigorous evaluations pate, which is part of the national social protection system,
in developing countries (all of those included were in Latin aims to change norms and educate men on the importance of
America and the Caribbean) found positive impacts of day- their engagement in childcare and sharing domestic responsi-
care, including preschool, on child development outcomes.49 bilities.69 An initiative in Turkey, the Father Support Program,
Yet policy in many developing countries still does not re- delivers courses to fathers through school teachers to encour-
flect the need. In one-third of all 143 countries included in age higher father engagement. Non-experimental evaluation
Women, Business and the Law, there are no laws establishing results suggest improvements in fathers’ time spent with chil-
the public provision of childcare or subsidizing childcare for dren and sharing of parenting and housework responsibili-
children under the age of primary education.50 As Figure 4.4 ties.70 A non-experimental pilot evaluation in Rwanda sim-
illustrates, while gains have been made, enrollment of chil- ilarly found promising impacts on changing men’s reported
dren in preprimary education remains very low in low-in- contributions to caring and housework by adding group ses-
come countries. This deprives women of a caring option for sions engaging men to a group microcredit intervention for
children, and it deprives children of important developmen- women.71 Scalable interventions to incentivize and encourage
tal opportunities.51 responsibility-sharing need to be more rigorously tested.
◆◆ Increasing women’s access to technology and infrastructure can ex- Increasing equitable access to financial services and other
pand economic opportunities.61 In rural communities, women key productive inputs can narrow productivity and profitabil-
often bear the bulk of responsibility for collecting water and ity gaps between female and male entrepreneurs and farmers.
firewood. A study in rural Zambia found that women spent The WDR 2012 recommended policies strengthening women’s
16 times as many hours as men per year collecting firewood.62 ownership rights, correcting biases in service delivery institutions,
 Igniting Gender Equality in the World of Work   63

and improving the functioning of credit markets. Clearly, these study found that 8 percent of women, compared to 16 percent
still hold, but emerging evidence on the importance of access to of men, reported having participated in apprenticeship programs
financial services should also be emphasized. Particularly for poor designed to support household entrepreneurs.80
women entrepreneurs, extending financial services and credit can Appropriately designed social protection schemes can strengthen
be critical. A randomized trial in Kenya showed that access to sav- resilience in tough times and foster individuals’ capacity to thrive.
ings accounts increased women’s business investments and expen- Given gender disparities in the world of work often leave women
ditures.72 Efforts to boost women’s financial inclusion are often particularly vulnerable, it can be important to incorporate gen-
needed to address both supply-side constraints (such as collateral der into the design and targeting of social protection schemes.81
requirements that exclude women, documentation requirements, Social protection includes a wide range of topics, including pen-
marketing that does not target poor women, and products that do sions, safety nets, employment guarantee programs, skills-train-
not adequately meet women’s needs) and demand-side constraints ing, and health insurance, among others.82 These programs are
(such as constraints on mobility, laws that preclude women’s access critical for helping to pull or keep people out of severe poverty (in
to credit, poor access to networks and information, low education the absence of sufficient income-generating opportunities) and to
and literacy, and lack of access to a mobile phone).73 Here again, protect households from economic shocks, such as illness, crop
understanding restrictions on women’s agency can be instructive devastation, or natural disaster. Yet unintended design and de-
in designing programs and policies. A different study of 749 mar- livery consequences may limit the positive impacts social protec-
ried couples in Kenya, for instance, indicates that women who tion schemes can have on women’s economic opportunities. Here
individually have bank accounts may in fact be disadvantaged by we highlight the examples of employment guarantee programs
lower transaction costs for accessing savings accounts with free (EGPs) and safety net schemes.
ATM cards, as this can make it easier for men to pressure women
with low bargaining power to withdraw funds.74 Employment guarantee programs (EGPs) that provide tempo-
rary jobs and wage to poor people often have low female par-
Specific policy and project options to address supply- and de- ticipation rates. Evidence from India and South Africa, however,
mand-side constraints are outlined in greater depth in a recent suggests high demand among women for participating in EGPs.83
toolkit, Promoting Women’s Financial Inclusion.75 One key point Policy makers should consider both the extent to which women
reinforces a reoccurring theme in this report: given the reality of have access to EGPs and the extent to which they benefit women
multiple constraints, the success of programs to increase finan- and girls; for example, building the types of infrastructure that re-
cial inclusion of women often hinges on linking financial services duce women’s time burden or increase girls’ access to education.84
(such as banking, microfinance, enterprise finance, and micro-in- In terms of access, policy actions can fix institutional biases by en-
surance), to complementary services (such as health, education, couraging more women to participate in traditionally male-dom-
financial literacy, and social services) that remove or offset con- inated EGPs. Training of EGP managers, quotas, and improving
straints that disproportionately affect poor women. the gender-sensitivity of workplaces can help, depending on the
Identify and correct service design and delivery biases that circumstances. The “Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employ-
discourage women’s work. These institutional failures man- ment Guarantee Act” (MG-NREGA), a large permanent public
ifest in various ways, but here we highlight opportunities for works program in India designed to avert the risks of seasonal
adult skill-building programs and social protection schemes in rural unemployment, includes gender-sensitive accommodations,
particular. such as projects closer to home, provision of childcare and water
Women farmers frequently have lower access than men to ag- for children, and breaks for lactating mothers.85 The World Bank’s
ricultural extension and advisory services, often due in part to Gender Action Plan supported capacity-building with multiple
biased membership rules or requirements.76 Only 28 percent of countries, such as Honduras, Kenya, and Lao PDR, to increase
women farmers in Ethiopia, for example, report weekly visits by gender equality commitments within employment policies for in-
extension development agents, compared to 50 percent of men frastructure sectors.86 Where discrimination and biased norms are
farmers.77 Yet access to extension services in Ethiopia by women particularly strong, governments should consider quotas as an op-
and men is strongly and positively linked to adoption of better tion to increase women’s participation in infrastructure projects,
seed and fertilizer.78 While rigorous evidence on the most effec- as has been done in India, Peru, and South Africa.87 Additionally,
tive practices in different settings is very limited, such institutional EGPs like the one in South Africa can include social service sector
failures may be mitigated in extension services, for example, by projects, such as community health outreach or childcare services,
adapting extension information and training to meet women’s which can engage women in semi-skilled jobs and have wider so-
needs, utilizing mobile phones and other technologies to reach cial impacts.88
women who have more constrained mobility, providing extension Governments can also design cash transfer models with wom-
services through women’s support groups when women have dif- en’s work in mind. Conditional cash transfers (CCTs) have played
ficulty joining male-dominated groups, and improving women’s significant roles in dozens of countries to reduce poverty and im-
representation as extension agents.79 There are also gender biases prove child outcomes. At the same time, qualitative research from
in entrepreneurs’ access to technical resources. In Tanzania, a Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru suggests that CCTs can perpetuate
64   Gender at Work

traditional gender roles and time constraints by making moth-

ers primarily responsible for a range of conditions tied to child Elderly Years
outcomes.89 Recent innovations in safety net models have taken Challenges and some promising solutions
women’s work into account. In Chile, for example, the new Ethi- Market Biases
cal Family Income legislation includes gender-informed policy el-
◆◆ Reforms toward equal retirement and pension ages for men and women
ements, such as training courses for the unemployed and subsidies
for women’s work. Early results of a randomized trial of the policy ◆◆ Create targeted programs that upgrade skills among older women willing
indicate promising gains for female labor force participation.90 An to work
experimental study in Nicaragua found a CCT program quadru- Old-Age Dependence
pled the incomes of women beneficiaries by boosting aspirations ◆◆ Design pension policies that provide protection without discouraging
through facilitating social interactions with other female leaders in women’s work
the community.91 In Pakistan, the national social safety net project
has increased women’s registration of computerized national iden-
tification cards, which are essential for opening a bank account,
getting a driver’s license, and going into formal employment.92 multi-disciplinary interventions like these are under way in devel-
Ways to reduce violence should be explored as part of pro- oping economies, but more innovation and testing are needed.
grams promoting economic opportunities. Women’s entrance
into non-traditional sectors, while important, also involves ele- Elderly years
vated risks for women’s safety. High levels of sexual harassment
Equality in old-age labor regulations can reduce market bi-
have been documented among women working in male-domi-
ases against women’s work. Many governments have moved, or
nated areas such as construction, law enforcement, and the mil- are moving, toward equal retirement and pension ages.98 Such re-
itary (though very little re- forms can have positive effects, though they need to be studied in
search has been conducted greater depth in developing countries. In the United Kingdom,
“I do not have anyone to take in developing countries).93 for example, increasing the state female pension age from 60 to
care of me, and I am alone... I Women in Afghanistan’s po- 61 increased female employment rates by 7 percentage points
can only eat if I work.” lice force, for example, report over a two-year period, with significant increases in part-time
rampant levels of exposure and full-time employment. The reform strengthened public fi-
—Older woman, India, Voices to sexual harassment and as- nances through a combination of reduced state expenditures (on
of the Poor: From Many Lands sault by male colleagues.94 pensions) and increased tax revenues (from additional earned in-
Policies and programs to in- come).99 Since 2011, Italy and Ukraine have equalized retirement
crease women’s entry into ages and Lithuania, Poland, and Slovenia are gradually increasing
male-dominated fields should be accompanied by planning for women’s retirement age toward equality. Both Ethiopia and Ma-
robust monitoring, oversight, training, and redress mechanisms to lawi recently introduced statutory ages for retirement and pen-
ensure women’s freedom from violence on the job. sions, which are the same for women and men.100
Women’s economic independence is important for increasing Flexible work and employment support for older women
women’s intra-household bargaining power and exit options in the can make work more viable. Reentry and continued work
event of an abusive relationship.95 However, economic opportuni- should be an option for older women. With growing elderly de-
ties by themselves may fail to reduce gender-based violence and in mographics worldwide, early retirement and social security are
some cases can even aggravate it. Emerging evidence shows that increasingly costly and insufficient to eliminate the need to work
economic empowerment programs can reduce women’s exposure to altogether among the elderly poor. Jobs for able older workers
violence by including program components geared toward build- need to be part of the broader solution to protecting and em-
ing women’s social cohesion and fostering more gender equitable powering growing elderly demographics, particularly women.
relationships. Microcredit interventions that included components Increases in retirement and pension ages, which are needed in
which addressed women’s social support and gender norms have many economies, should be accompanied by policies to increase
demonstrated reductions in women’s exposure to abuse in South economic opportunities and related skills among the elderly, es-
Africa and Cote d’Ivoire (only economic abuse was significantly pecially women. To avoid pending labor and productivity short-
affected in the latter).96 In El Salvador, Ciudad Mujer, a project falls with changing demographics, targeted programs to maintain
supported by the Inter-American Development Bank, establishes and upgrade skills among the elderly, for example through on-
community-based one-stop centers for women that provide inte- the-job training and part-time educational arrangements, will be
grated services such as vocational training, access to microfinance, critical for many economies.101 Despite common perceptions that
childcare services, crisis supports for victims of violence, and com- skills investments can be lost on older workers, this is not always
munity education targeting gender norms and women’s health.97 the case. For example, an evaluation in Estonia found that older
An impact evaluation is currently under way. New trials evaluating workers (aged 50 and over) experienced greater gains in income
 Igniting Gender Equality in the World of Work   65

and employment from training than younger and middle-aged women with social protection
“We, the older women, take
program participants.102 These opportunities are particularly im- while still encouraging their
care of the children as well as
portant for older women, who are more likely to have discon- employment by combining
doing housework like cooking,
tinuous employment histories resulting in weaker market-relevant individual contributory ac- cleaning, and washing.”
skills and experience. Research in Europe has also suggested that counts with a non-contribu-
new jobs for older women can be created by externalizing services, tory component designed to —Older woman, urban
such as childcare and other social services, which are otherwise keep women out of poverty Bangladesh, Ageing in the 21st
provided by women within the household. This, in turn, has the in old-age.105 Pension policies Century
potential to increase economic opportunities for both young and can further help offset this
older adult women while increasing early child development.103 disadvantage by, for example,
Overall, despite the swelling importance of expanding the skills including redistributive elements such as minimum income guar-
and employment options of elderly women workers, very little antees, flat-rate provisions, and income ceilings.106
impact evaluation has documented the effectiveness of specific Equitable social protection can also produce positive spillover
policy interventions in developing countries. effects on younger generations.107 Two separate analyses in South
Targeted social protection can help offset the cumulative dis- Africa found that pensions received by elderly women signifi-
advantage among elderly women and even benefit the next gen- cantly increased granddaughters’ educational enrollment and pos-
eration. Women are particularly disadvantaged by contributory itive health outcomes. These effects did not pertain to boys, and
pension schemes for which the level of benefits received directly neither boys nor girls were affected when elderly men were the
depends on the number of years working in formal employment. benefit receivers.108 Similarly, in Brazil, R$100 (about US$43.50
This leaves women, who spend a higher number of years out of in 2013) in monthly old-age pension benefits increased school
paid work or in informal jobs, with less adequate social protection enrollment rates among girls by 10 percent. Again, no such effects
in old age, if any. Argentina has reformed its pension policy to were found for boys, and impacts on girls were mostly attributable
increase eligibility among the self-employed, which especially ben- to female rather than male benefits.109
efits low-income women who concentrate into this type of work.104 This section has outlined policy options for addressing con-
In general, pension schemes are likely to provide low-earning straints to gender equality in the world of work that manifest in

Resource Box 4.2. Identifying what works

Identifying credible evidence and filling knowledge gaps on atic reviews that generate high quality evidence on what
the most effective means for addressing specific problems is works in development and why. A significant amount of
a fundamental aspect of evidence-based decision-making. A evidence can be found on development topics related to
careful review of what is already known should always pre- gender equality throughout the lifecycle.113
cede big decisions about policies, interventions, and evalu-
◆◆ Jobs Knowledge Platform (multiple partners including
ations. The following are good places to start (see notes for
the World Bank): JKP aims to help decision-makers find
website links):
practical solutions to expand job creation and improve
◆◆ enGENDER IMPACT (World Bank Group): A new online job opportunities. The platform disseminates research
gateway to all World Bank impact evaluations on what and data, mobilizes a community for sharing ideas and
works, and what doesn’t, for gender equality and wom- experiences, and informs policy debates.114
en’s empowerment across multiple outcome areas.110
◆◆ Knowledge Gateway for Women’s Economic Empow-
◆◆ Campbell Collaboration: The Campbell Collaboration erment (UN Women): The portal facilitates the sharing
publishes systematic reviews summarizing the interna- of knowledge about what works and what does not in
tional research evidence on the effects of interventions improving women’s economic empowerment.115
in crime and justice, education, international develop-
ment, and social welfare.111 ◆◆ Roadmap for Promoting Women’s Economic Empow-
erment (The United Nations Foundation and Exxon-
◆◆ Gender Action Portal (Women and Public Policy Pro- Mobile): Priorities for action are recommended based
gram, Harvard University): This portal presents a vetted on an extensive review of research evidence. Com-
collection of research evaluating the impact of specific missioned studies aim to identify the most effective
policies, strategies, and organizational practices in interventions for empowering women economically in
closing gender gaps in economic opportunity, political four areas: entrepreneurship, farming, wage employ-
participation, health and education.112 ment, and young women’s employment. The Website
◆◆ International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie): 3ie includes reviews of what works as well as program
funds and disseminates impact evaluations and system- evaluations.116
66   Gender at Work

different stages of the lifecycle. As the next chapter will discuss, and philanthropy. They can lead by example through hiring, staff
building the evidence on what works, and what does not, for dif- development, improving workplace conditions, and promotion.
ferent populations and settings is essential for policy and funding As highlighted in chapter 1, it is not only the right thing to do; it
decisions to promote gender equality. Meanwhile, there is a grow- is also often good for the bottom line. The private sector’s impor-
ing body of rigorous research and evaluation on different types of tance is underscored by the fact that it supplies the vast majority of
policies and programs that can contribute to gender equality in jobs: ILO data indicate that the private sector accounts for about
the world of work. We have highlighted some of the lessons that three out of four jobs in countries like Egypt, Finland, and France
emerge from this evidence base, but important resources exist to and nine out of 10 jobs in countries such as Brazil, Chile, Japan,
connect policy-makers and practitioners with more targeted infor- and South Africa.117 Most of these private sector jobs in develop-
mation based on their needs. Resource Box 4.2 highlights some ing countries are self-employed, which means that government
useful examples, which can serve as starting points for identifying policies still have to play a very active role. Yet companies too
promising policy options. have important opportunities to promote gender equality through
their interactions with employees and entrepreneurs.
2. Proactive leadership and innovation: private sector Many companies are proactively leading by example with
actions innovative strategies to advance gender equality in the world
This section focuses on opportunities at three levels: making of work. Some have adopted the Women’s Empowerment Princi-
gender equality a corporate and investment priority, improving ples, a voluntary framework promulgated by UN Women.118 For
conditions for women’s opportunities within firms, and helping instance, a leading Egyptian company for producing pharmaceu-
women entrepreneurs’ access financial services and capital. tical products, Chemical Industries Development (CID), made
gender equality a priority and followed up with actions includ-
ing subsidized daycare, an emphasis on equal pay for women and
Making gender equality a corporate and investment men, employee training on gender equality, and fairer recruitment
priority standards. Denmor, a garment manufacturer in Guyana whose
Private sector firms can support gender equality in the world of employees are 98 percent impoverished women, has made con-
work in many important ways, including practices, investments, certed commitments regarding employee training, fringe benefits,

Box 4.3. Companies can help level the playing field for women’s work through corporate philanthropy
Recognizing the importance of long-term investments in gen- women make successful school-to-work transitions in low-in-
der equality at different stages of the lifecycle, many compa- come countries.122
nies have launched significant philanthropic and public ini- Others aim to increase the immediate skills and economic op-
tiatives. Although corporate philanthropy is not a substitute portunities of productive age women. Coca-Cola, the world’s
for much-needed advances in corporate practice, it can be a largest beverage company, started 5by20, a global initiative to
valuable component of a firm’s gender priorities—particularly empower 5 million women entrepreneurs across the compa-
when private sector actions are coordinated with government ny’s value chain by 2020.123 The initiative collaborates with the
and civil society institutions. At such times corporate philan- International Finance Corporation, the Bill & Melinda Gates
thropy can encourage, incubate, and test innovations with po- Foundation, UN Women, and others to provide a range of key
tential for scale up through public policy. linked services to women, including business skills training,
Some companies have focused initiatives earlier in the life- access to financial services, and support networks of peers
cycle. Intel, a multinational semiconductor chip maker, has and mentors. Goldman Sachs, a multinational investment
launched a global initiative, She Will Connect, to promote the banking firm, has led 10,000 Women, a five-year, US$100 mil-
empowerment and education of girls and women around lion global initiative providing 10,000 underserved women
the world by addressing gender-based barriers to STEM ed- entrepreneurs with business and management education, ac-
ucation and access to technology.119 Similarly, the Intel Learn cess to mentors and networks, and links to capital.124 Walmart,
Program extends innovative informal education to youth in the world’s largest retailer, aims to increase sourcing from
developing countries to develop skills technology literacy, women-owned businesses and gender diversity among major
problem-solving, critical thinking, and teamwork.120 Nike, suppliers, as well as committing US$100 million in grants to-
a multinational apparel and equipment retailer, is a leading ward women’s economic empowerment.125 Walmart’s Women
partner behind The Girl Effect, a global movement to promote in Factories Training Program is a five-year initiative that aims
adolescent girls’ empowerment.121 The Nike Foundation also to train 60,000 women in 150 factories and processing facili-
invests in specific projects empowering adolescent girls. It is a ties in a range of life skills; another 8,000 women will receive
partner with the World Bank, for example, on the Adolescent additional leadership training toward personal and career de-
Girls Initiative (AGI), which helps adolescent girls and young velopment.
 Igniting Gender Equality in the World of Work   67

and a comfortable work environment, and has reported higher innovative approach: it supports women leaders directly along
productivity and appeal to international clients as a result. Banco with organizing a group of influential male CEOs as advocates for
do Brasil has placed special emphasis on promoting employees women’s empowerment in the private sector.132 Resource Box 4.3
with parental demands, and was the first financial institution in outlines some resources available for private sector engagement
the country to allow women six months of paid maternity leave, and leadership.
including for adoptions. Banco do Brasil also offers paternity leave
and financial reimbursements for external childcare services, pre-
Improving conditions for women’s opportunities with-
schools, and domestic help for parents with children under seven
in firms
and disabled children over seven. Many companies are also mak-
ing broader investments in gender equality beyond employees As employees, women and men can have different needs and
through philanthropic priorities (Box 4.3). priorities. As the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC)
WINVest report highlights, many firms are reducing gender-spe-
Despite the growing number of good practice examples,
cific barriers to women’s entry to good jobs as well as taking steps
there is still much to do to increase gender as a priority in the
to increase women’s representation in corporate management and
private sector. In a survey of approximately 40,000 employers
leadership—and they are seeing the payoffs.133 Women face gen-
across 42 countries, only 2 percent of employers report having
der-specific constraints to work, which means that gender-specific
adopted talent sourcing strategies to recruit more women.126 Very
business strategies are typically needed. A survey of 7,000 Cana-
few are implementing actions in their talent recruitment strate-
dian employees, for example, found significant gender differences
gies that could improve the attractiveness of workplaces to women
in workplace needs. Whereas long-term jobs security was a top
and reduce gender inequality, such as enhancing benefits (6 per-
priority for both women and men, women placed higher levels of
cent), offering more flexible work arrangements (5 percent), and
importance than men on flexible working arrangements, accessi-
providing virtual work options (2 percent).127 In a 2009 global
bility, a pleasant working atmosphere, a competitive salary, and
survey conducted by McKinsey & Company of nearly 2,300 se-
good work-life balance.134 Further quantitative and qualitative
nior private sector executives, only 19 percent reported that their
research is needed to better understand differences in needs and
companies were doing anything specifically focused on women,
preferences between women and men workers in different types
either directly or indirectly.128 More can be done to increase the
of jobs and settings.
importance of, and the business case for, gender equality in the
private sector. The following are good corporate practices that have increased
women’s employment or longevity in employment and shown a
International institutions can partner with the private sec-
return on investment:
tor on this agenda to encourage progress in making gender a
priority. For example, the World Economic Forum has launched ◆◆ Setting up an employee data infrastructure that disaggregates
Gender Parity Task Forces in three countries: Japan, Mexico, and human resource data by sex to monitor the outcomes associ-
Turkey.129 The task forces include 50–100 leaders and organiza- ated with company employment policies.
tions (50–60 percent of which must be from the business commu- ◆◆ Reviewing human resources policies and systems to ensure
nity) charged with accelerating progress toward women’s economic women’s needs at work are met, including freedom from dis-
integration. Ultimately, the task forces aim to close the economic crimination and harassment.
gender gap (as measured by the Global Gender Gap Index) by 10
percent in three years. The World Bank’s Gender Equity Model ◆◆ Attracting women into management, supervisory, and
(GEM) supports firms and provides certification for adopting non-traditional roles by, for example, providing targeted train-
good practices in the areas of recruitment, career development, ing, apprenticeship, and skills development opportunities.
family-work balance, and sexual harassment policies. The World ◆◆ Creating family-friendly working environments through such
Bank provides technical assistance to government agencies on in- measures as establishing company-sponsored parental leave
ternational good practices, and governments work directly with for both women and men, encouraging work-life balance,
participating firms. Firms obtain certification after a preliminary and providing or subsidizing childcare services that stimulate
audit conducted by the government. Since the pilot in Mexico child development and expand women’s time.
in 2003, GEM has been replicated in 10 additional countries.130 Businesses often need to take more concerted steps to en-
While the initiative has not been rigorously evaluated, non-ex- courage women’s work in non-traditional sectors. When
perimental results are encouraging. In Mexico, for example, firms women are supported in entering male-dominated jobs, sectors,
report increased promotions of women to managerial positions, and industries, positive results often “bust” myths about where
the elimination of pregnancy discrimination from recruiting prac- women can and cannot succeed. A recent IFC report cites ex-
tices, and higher worker performance and productivity.131 amples in which companies in male-dominated sectors—such as
Outside these international initiatives, some national govern- chemicals, construction, and mining—increase women’s partici-
ments have directly encouraged firms to adopt gender as a pri- pation through more concerted recruitment and increased fam-
ority. For example, the Australian government is pursuing an ily-friendly work arrangements. In turn, the diversification often
68   Gender at Work

Box 4.4. Starting from within: The World Bank Group and gender equality at work
Even as international institutions advocate measures to foster activities, confidential services with a focus on early preven-
gender equality at work, many are themselves working to ful- tion, and a network of local referrals around World Bank Group
fill that vision internally. This includes the World Bank Group, facilities at headquarters and internationally.
which has taken important steps but still has work to do.
With regard to staff representation and career opportunities,
To support a better work-family balance, the World Bank Group the data still indicate room for growth. Women currently con-
offers employees the options of flexible work and temporary stitute 42 percent of full-time professional staff in the World
home-based work if the supervisor approves. Up to 10 days of Bank Group, 30 percent of high-level technical staff, and 36
short-term family leave are available to employees, and both percent of managers. These numbers remain lower than they
paid maternity leave (70 days per pregnancy or delivery) and should be, although there has been some progress: From 2006,
paternity leave (10 days per childbirth) are offered, though the the percentage of women among high-level technical staff
gender gap in the number of allowable days makes it difficult increased from 26 percent and the share of women manag-
to fully encourage equitable parenting roles. The World Bank ers increased from 28 percent. In the 2013 World Bank Group
Group’s adoption leave policy is gender-neutral, offering the Employee Engagement Survey, only 47 percent of women
primary caregiver, regardless of gender, up to 70 days of leave responded favorably regarding developmental opportunities
for each eligible adoption or surrogacy. A World Bank Family on the job, compared with 55 percent of men. However, two-
Network offers services to spouses to help make connections thirds of both women and men agreed that they can take ad-
to family and employment resources. vantage of flexible work arrangements when needed. In terms
In terms of promoting women’s agency, the World Bank Group of an equitable environment, 68 percent of women and 71
has clear policies and mechanisms in place to address reports percent of men agreed that staff members were treated fairly
of sexual harassment. It also has a robust Domestic Abuse Pre- regardless of gender, age, race, ethnicity, national origin, reli-
vention Program that comprises institution-wide awareness gion, sexual orientation, or disability.140

follows improvements in productivity and profitability. For ex- Helping women entrepreneurs access financial ser-
ample, Odebrecht, a construction company, found that a major- vices and capital
ity-female team performed faster electro-mechanical assembly on
Commercial lending institutions can help address credit con-
a hydroelectric power plant construction site in Brazil than did
straints, which are a dominant factor behind gender differences
male-majority teams.135
in firm size and performance.141 Of course, the disparities be-
Public-private partnerships can ensure better working con- tween women’s and men’s access to financial services and capital
ditions to increase decent work for women and men. Although are not products of markets alone. As highlighted in this report
safety is a concern for both women and men workers, in some and elsewhere, governments play a critical role in addressing other
contexts risks may be disproportionate because of gender sorting essential pieces of the puzzle—by, for example, developing hu-
into different jobs and industries.136 Important efforts have ex- man capital, ensuring a fair regulatory environment, making key
panded women’s agency by improving the conditions, protections, infrastructure investments so that women can access financial ser-
and opportunities for voice in vulnerable jobs. The ILO and IFC vices, reducing corruption (which often disproportionately affects
have partnered on Better Work, an initiative to improve working women entrepreneurs), and ensuring women’s access to a range
conditions in garment factories and promote private sector com- of services needed to participate on equal terms in the world of
petiveness in global supply chains.137 Non-experimental impact work.142
assessments illustrate improvements in workers’ conditions during However, there are clear opportunities both for commercial
the period of the program. For example, factory workers in Jordan banks—in terms of access to the loans and services they provide—
report a 50 percent reduction in frequent exhaustion or fatigue and for businesses in related industries. Indeed, they are a key part
and were 9 percent less likely to express safety concerns (from of the solution. An IFC study indicates that that up to 70 per-
2010–2012).138 And managers at Better Work factories in Viet- cent of women are unserved or underserved by formal lenders.143
nam report improved labor productivity as a result of changes the Yet there appears to be a disconnect between the need and banks’
program had facilitated.139 perception of the need: 84 percent of representatives for commer-
Finally, development agencies advocating steps toward gender cial banks surveyed in Latin America and the Caribbean do not
equality have themselves made efforts to lead by example. Box 4.4 think that women are under-attended as a market segment, and
reviews the World Bank’s work in this regard. the majority considered themselves “gender-neutral.”144 The same
 Igniting Gender Equality in the World of Work   69

Resource Box 4.3. Resources for private sector engagement and leadership
As private sector recognition of the business case for invest- tions interested in building women’s wealth worldwide.
ing in gender equality grows, more resources are coming to GBA’s work focuses particularly on the needs of women
the fore to provide practical guidance, tools, networks, and entrepreneurs running small and medium enterprises.152
examples. The following are leading examples (see notes for ◆◆ WINvest (International Finance Corporation): An
Website links): initiative that brings together IFC clients and partners
◆◆ Better Work (IFC and ILO): An initiative to improve work- to generate private sector attention, ideas and best
ing conditions in garment factories and promote private practices around women’s employment. WINvest seeks
sector competiveness in global supply chains. Activities to provide tools and guidance that improve working
include advisory services, tailored training, a dynamic conditions for women while increasing business perfor-
information management system, and a practical work- mance.153
place-assessment tool for measuring compliance with ◆◆ Women’s Empowerment Principles (UN Global Com-
international labor standards.151 pact and UN Women): A set of principles for business
◆◆ Global Banking Alliance for Women: An international offering guidance on empowering women in the work-
consortium of financial institutions and other organiza- place, marketplace and community.154

survey of 106 banks found that half did not collect sex-disaggre- intermediaries go to women-owned businesses.149 Banks can also
gated data on their lending portfolio to small and medium-size increase the accessibility of their services to the poor by removing
enterprises (SMEs). These positions and lack of disaggregated data or reducing barriers like minimum balance requirements. Open-
significantly hamper banks’ capacity to engage women entrepre- ing an account in Cameroon, for example, requires an initial
neurs as an under-tapped business market. deposit of over US$700, which exceeds the country’s per capita
The IFC and its clients are working to change the tide. In Brazil, GDP.150
for example, IFC’s investment and advisory services to Banco Itau
are supporting the development of a specific value proposition 3. Closing data gaps and investing in knowledge
for women-owned SMEs, including the use of psychometric cred- International development agencies play a vital role in contrib-
it-risk scoring measures that are more women-friendly. In Nigeria, uting to global public goods by addressing key global and regional
the IFC has partnered with Access Bank to extend credit to wom- data gaps and contributing to the evidence base of what works and
en-owned distributors to bring more women into Coca-Coca’s what does not. Here we address each of these in turn. Although
value chain and enable greater business growth.145 we highlight global knowledge gaps, it is important to recognize
An IFC review of commercial bank practices to engage women that organizations like the World Bank, through their day-to-day
business owners in developing countries found emphasis on the work, continually engage with client governments to help develop
following activities: creating products and sources that alleviate collaborative research and data agendas that help fill those knowl-
the burden of collateral, helping women business owners at the edge gaps that are most pressing for the local context.
start-up phase, and providing additional products and services
such as company insurance to enhance the capability of women to Data gaps
run stronger businesses.146 Improving country-level indicators and monitoring is a
Recent innovations highlight promising opportunities to ex- particularly important area in which the World Bank Group
tend finance to women entrepreneurs. The Harvard Entrepre- can help clients build capacity. Good diagnostic and monitor-
neurial Finance Lab has found that psychometric testing to assess ing data on key indicators for gender equality is unlikely to be
credit-seekers’ honesty, intelligence and personality, along with available if national statistics offices lack strong data systems or
other traits can be successfully used to extend credit to women valid and reliable indicators. In Nigeria, Paraguay, Vietnam, and
entrepreneurs in developing countries who would otherwise have elsewhere the World Bank Group is working with national statis-
a harder time securing credit through traditional means of as- tical offices to improve the availability and use of gender-disag-
sessing risk, which focus on collateral and future cash flows.147 gregated data. Ongoing monitoring and evaluation allows teams
Village Capital, a start-up accelerator program, found that using to track implementation of policy reforms and interventions over
a peer selection process for determining which ventures to invest time. When monitoring and evaluation include real-time feed-
in appeared to increase the likelihood of female-led ventures re- back loops, they allow for evidence-informed midcourse correc-
ceiving investments.148 The IFC has set itself the goal of ensuring tions where results are stalled and further scale-up where results
that 25 percent of IFC loans provided to SMEs through financial indicate success worth replicating. In Vietnam the government
70   Gender at Work

Table 4.2. Indicators where urgent action is needed to close data gaps

Indicator Type
1. Average number of hours spent on unpaid domestic work by sex (Note: Separate housework and childcare if possible) 2
2. Average number of hours spent on paid and unpaid work combined (total work burden), by sex 2
3. Percentage of firms owned by women, by size 3
4. Employment rate of persons aged 25–48 with a child under age 3 living in a household and with no children living in the household, by sex 3
5. Proportion of children under age 3 in formal care 3
6. Proportion of women aged 15–49 subjected to physical or sexual violence in the last 12 months by an intimate partner 2
7. Proportion of women aged 15–49 subjected to physical or sexual violence in the last 12 months by a non-partner 2
8. Proportion of adult population owning land 3
9. Informal employment as a percentage of total non-agricultural employment, by sex 2
10. Proportion of population with access to credit (and financial services), by sex 3
11. Share of female science, engineering, manufacturing and construction graduates at tertiary level 2

adopted a set of national gender development indicators and cri- prise ownership. For instance, surveys may currently ask whether
teria for sex-disaggregated data to monitor implementation of its a firm has any female ownership. As a result, data indicate rela-
Gender Equality Law. Among other things, the monitoring and tively high levels of female firm ownership, but nothing is known
evaluation framework includes tracking of sex-disaggregated asset about the extent to which women’s ownership is merely nominal
ownership such as land use certificates. or reflective of actual firm influence and decision-making author-
For many important outcomes and constraints related to gen- ity. The OECD, among others, has highlighted this issue with
der equality in the world of work, recommended indicators and respect to defining and studying female enterprises, noting the
guidance for measurement are now available through the United lack of a common international framework for designing busi-
Nations Gender Statistics Manual. The manual is targeted primar- ness surveys.158 In addition to minimum gender indicators, several
ily to statisticians working in less developed national statistical other data gaps hinder evidence-based policy-making in the topics
systems and it can be used as resource material for training in addressed by this paper.
gender statistics. The online platform can be particularly useful Regularized, comparable data on gender wage gaps, by oc-
to World Bank Group staff and partners in government statistical cupation and industry, are not presently available. In the few
offices for improving the quantity and quality of available data in sources where gendered wage statistics are reported, these need to
key areas.155 The manual provides guidance, which reflects inter- be interpreted carefully and with caution. The coverage, defini-
national agreement, on statistics in several topics central to this tions and methods of compiling wage statistics differ significantly
report, including work, education, power and decision-making, from country to country, and data are rarely well-harmonized.
and violence against women, among others. Additionally, statistics of wage rates reflect neither the influence
In an effort to coordinate international efforts to collect gender of changes in wage supplements nor the influence of variations
relevant data, the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Gender Sta- in hours of work. Where female workers generally work a much
tistics (IAEG-GS) picked 52 gender indicators—usually referred smaller number of hours than male workers, these factors must be
as the “52 core indicators” on gender equality.156 Some indicators kept in mind when interpreting the wage ratio. This is an import-
(“type 1” indicators) are determined by the group to be concep- ant area of work for national governments and the international
tually clear: they have an agreed international definition and are donor community when improving the tracking and comparison
regularly produced by countries. However, other indicators are of a key indicator for understanding gender gaps in the world of
either clear and defined but not regularly produced (“type 2”) or work.
lacking in international measurement standards as well as avail- Better designed household surveys are needed to capture
ability (“type 3”).157 Table 4.2 summarizes key indicators falling gender-specific control and ownership of agricultural re-
into the latter two categories for which urgent action is needed to sources such as male-owned, female-owned, and jointly owned
close data gaps in topics addressed by this report. assets. One exciting initiative is the new Living Standards Mea-
In some areas data are available but sampling or phrasing raise surement Study – Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA),
doubts about interpretations. An important example is that of which is a US$19 million household survey project established
firm surveys that seek to understand gender disparities in enter- by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and implemented by
 Igniting Gender Equality in the World of Work   71

the World Bank. The project supports national statistics offices in involved non-randomized designs, relatively small sample
seven Sub-Saharan African countries in designing and implement- sizes, and short follow-up periods.161 Programs and curricular
ing multi-topic, nationally representative household surveys with reforms in schools may be especially promising given the in-
gender-disaggregated data and a strong focus on agriculture. frastructure for scale-up, but evaluations are needed.
In terms of broad constraints to women’s work, reliable mea- ◆◆ Agricultural interventions focusing on women farmers—or more
sures and better gender-disaggregated data are needed in areas broadly, but with outcomes disaggregated by sex.162 Evaluations
of emerging importance. For example, regularized, compara- are needed to help understand (1) the right combinations and
ble, and gender-disaggregated data are missing on important but sequencing of interventions needed to help women farmers
tough-to-measure outcomes such as aspirations and non-cognitive be as productive and profitable as men farmers and (2) what
skills. Efforts should start with development of better measures interventions help women to penetrate different segments
and piloting them across multiple developing-country contexts, of agricultural value chains. Future research can also help
coupled with seeking to understand which types of measures are pinpoint the most significant constraints, both supply- and
most relevant to present or future economic opportunities. Simi- demand-side, to women’s participation in extension services
larly, there are very few data in developing countries on workplace and access to innovative technologies; it can also test different
harassment or guidance on how to measure it. Data on domestic approaches to respond.
violence are not collected as frequently or in as many countries
as needed. The new UN gender statistical guidance mentioned ◆◆ Means of extending financial services to impoverished women.
above provides standards on collecting key gender-based violence Only recently have data been systematically compiled and
indicators.159 Guidance for safe and ethical data collection on analyzed to study gender disadvantage in access to financial
gender-based violence is provided by the World Health Organiza- services beyond credit. Public and private sector approaches
tion.160 Further, most multi-country violence against women sur- are coming to the fore, such as mobile banking, women-only
veys do not include longitudinal designs or economic outcomes, banks, tailored financial instruments for women entrepre-
making it difficult to assess relationships between violence and neurs, and more-targeted marketing strategies. However, re-
work. While there is agreement on how to measure physical and search shows that women face multiple barriers to financial
sexual intimate partner violence, there is less agreement and prac- services, and most strategies lack rigorous evaluation. Addi-
tice on measuring emotional or economic forms of violence, or tionally, future evaluations need to consider effects of inter-
non-partner types of domestic violence (such as in-law abuse or ventions on both access and wider empowerment outcomes,
gender-based elderly abuse). as these do not always move in the same direction.163
◆◆ Effective and efficient child and elderly care policies. A growing
Knowledge investments body of evidence demonstrates the positive effects of external
childcare arrangements on both women’s economic outcomes
Despite the recent progress and the accumulation of evi-
and children’s healthy development. However, more evalu-
dence and knowledge about some interventions, major knowl-
edge gaps still exist on what works, and what does not, for pro- ation is needed to better understand what types of policies
moting gender equality in the world of work. These gaps place work best in developing contexts and under what circum-
significant constraints on policy makers’ and funders’ capacity to stances. Additionally, programs may be inefficient if they
make well-informed decisions that can translate gender-informed crowd out affordable private sector options, or if program
analysis into policy actions. Evidence from high-quality impact costs outweigh returns through gains for women’s earnings
and process studies can inform decisions about the interventions and child development. Evaluations should test and compare
and approaches that have the greatest probability of improving different models, such as voucher-based systems versus gov-
gender outcomes in the world of work and beyond. Nonetheless, ernment managed centers.164 The evidence is extremely thin
in many policy topics covered by this report, the challenges are in developing countries on effective, affordable, and culturally
exacerbated by urgent knowledge gaps on what works, and under appropriate policies to address growing elderly care demands
what circumstances, to improve outcomes. Improving the quan- on women’s time, as well as policy options to increase men’s
tity and quality of research evidence in developing contexts should time allocation to caring and other domestic responsibilities.
be a priority. This report and recent reviews have highlighted the ◆◆ Interventions to increase women’s work, entrepreneurship, and
following particularly urgent areas for more rigorous and general- success in male-dominated sectors and jobs.165 This can include,
izable evaluation: for example, targeted recruitment strategies, quotas, im-
◆◆ Gender-transformative interventions, especially during youth. proved workplace conditions, and informational interven-
Adolescence and youth can be an ideal period to reach young tions on market options. As women enter male-dominated
people, both male and female, with interventions designed to work, monitoring and evaluation should continue to track
encourage more gender–equitable norms and attitudes. Al- women’s experiences, retention, and outcomes to ensure that
though promising gender-transformative interventions have working experiences are conducive to women’s well-being
been tested in schools and communities, these have largely and success.
72   Gender at Work

◆◆ Employment programs focusing on older women—or more edge, and capacity for gender-informed policy-making by con-
broadly, but with outcomes disaggregated by sex. The elderly de- ducting impact evaluations that fill key knowledge gaps, offering
mographic is growing in importance, as increased statutory technical assistance, and disseminating evidence and partnering
and corporate retirement ages in many countries to keep up to build knowledge. The initiative focuses both on increasing and
with increased life expectancies will mean longer working measuring agency and on improving our understanding of how
years. Very little rigorous evaluation has been conducted in an agency approach can be used to complement interventions for
developing countries on the effects of employment interven- expanding economic opportunities and human capital.
tions and labor policies on older workers generally, but espe-
cially with respect to gender-disaggregated effects and gen- Conclusions
der-specific interventions.
It is clear that jobs are a vital contributor to people’s well-be-
◆◆ Multicomponent programs that boost women’s economic oppor- ing and to countries’ development prospects. The WDR 2013
tunities and agency simultaneously. Combining simultaneous emphasized that the types of jobs created determine the develop-
policy interventions and components to address agency and ment value they offer in a particular context. As this report has
economic opportunities will render the prospect of gender emphasized, increasing jobs—and equitable access to jobs—that
equality in the world of work much more attainable. It may empower women and contribute to gender equality can increase
be especially important for the most vulnerable women, who development impact through better living standards, productivity,
face multiple constraints and therefore might be excluded and social cohesion. Given the widespread nature of gender gaps
from simpler interventions that screen women based on their in the world of work, there are rarely exceptions to the impor-
likelihood to succeed. Promising interventions with women tance of making gender equality a priority in country job strate-
employees, entrepreneurs, and farmers, for instance, might gies; though the specific focuses and actions will vary according to
combine strategic programmatic elements or services to in- countries’ unique jobs challenges.
crease vocational, business, or trade-related skills; aspirations
and confidence; social networks; freedom from violence; and The good news is that major progress has been made in recent
healthy gender dynamics in the household. Better evidence decades for gender equality in areas such as health and educa-
on what types of complex interventions are most effective, tion—progress that may contribute to broader achievements in
the world of work in the future. Women’s labor force participation
and for whom, in a range of developing contexts is needed.
has markedly improved in Latin America and the Caribbean, as
Well-planned impact evaluation designs, complemented by
have laws promoting gender equality in many countries. Other
good process evaluations, can help identify which program-
disparities have been much more stubborn, however, and it is clear
matic components are most important and what types of cir-
that more targeted and coordinated actions are needed to translate
cumstances and delivery are needed to achieve optimal out-
human capital gains into more equitable economic opportunities.
comes.166 There is a growing body of expertise on methods for
developing and evaluating complex interventions over time, There is no magic key to unlocking gender equality in the world
and this should help guide future work so that knowledge of work. Even well-designed interventions can have muted im-
gaps are filled more systematically.167 pacts in isolation.169 Closing gaps in school enrolment with cash
transfers may not overcome differences in completion rates and
The World Bank Group has several initiatives contributing to
economic opportunities if girls are pulled out early for domestic
the production and dissemination of better evidence related to
work or if teaching is gender-biased. Training women on how to
policies and programs for gender equality in the world of work.
start businesses will still leave female entrepreneurs with smaller
It recently launched enGENDER IMPACT as a gateway to gen-
firms if they lack access to credit or technology. Hiring more
der-related World Bank impact evaluations to promote global
women into wage jobs will not erase pay gaps if they have to spend
knowledge sharing and production.168 The effort complements
more time caring for children and elderly family members than
gender innovation and evaluation initiatives in regional teams
their male counterparts.
like Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean.
In addition, the World Bank’s Africa Gender Innovation Lab—in Bold, concerted, multi-sectoral efforts across the lifecycle, how-
partnership with units across the World Bank, aid agencies and ever, can help level the playing field for girls and women. The fun-
donors, governments, non-governmental organizations, private damentals that need to be addressed are now well established, and
sector firms, and researchers—carries out rigorous impact eval- the body of evidence that can inform policy options is better than
uations and designs gender-innovative interventions in the areas ever before. Drawing on experience from their own countries as
of agricultural productivity, entrepreneurship, employment, and well as others, policy makers can now use an increasingly sophisti-
economic empowerment. The Lab aims to build the evidence base cated set of tools to design effective, country-specific, tailor-made
on how to close the gender gap in earnings, productivity, assets, packages of linked interventions across sectors.
property rights, and agency. Finally, In the Latin America and the A gender-smart jobs strategy is a long-term commitment that
Caribbean region, the Gender Impact Evaluation Initiative was requires coordinating policy across the public and private sec-
launched in 2013 as an effort to strengthen awareness, knowl- tors on the basis of country-specific diagnostics. Fortunately, in
 Igniting Gender Equality in the World of Work   73

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unutilized, gender equality in the world of work is a win-win and Unconditional Cash Transfers for Schooling Outcomes in Developing Coun-
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ment and cohesion: the human empowerment perspective.” Back- 22. Groh, M., N. Krishnan, et al. 2012. “Soft Skills or Hard Cash? The Im-
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24. Attanasio, O., et al. 2011. “Subsidizing vocational training for disad-
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25. Adoho, S. C., D. T. Korkoyah, et al. Forthcoming. “The Impact of
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“We know that reducing gender gaps in the world of work can yield broad development dividends: improving child health
and education, enhancing poverty reduction, and catalyzing productivity. Empowering women and girls is vital in order to
achieve our twin goals: ending extreme poverty by 2030 and boosting shared prosperity.”

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, from the Foreword

World Bank Group Gender & Development

[Link]/gender