For every dollar that men earn, women receive only 51 cents. This is a worrying gap pointed out by the United Nations, which condemns employment difficulties for females are equal if not higher than twenty years ago. Despite significant progress in the last century, women are still far from achieving gender equality in the workplace, condemns the International Labor Organization (ILO). Indeed, in many parts of the world they are still engaged in low-skilled work and the number of unpaid hours they have more than men.
“The new data show that it is still much more difficult for women to find work than for men,” the ILO notes, adding that, according to the new data, worldwide 15% of women of working age would like to work, but cannot, against 10.5% of men.. “This gender gap has hardly changed in two decades.” The report emphasizes that this is a disturbing phenomenon that not only violates fundamental rights, but also has serious economic and social consequences. Discrimination stifles opportunities and slows down the work of the whole country, which deprives itself of the resources necessary for its progress.
The employment gap is particularly severe in low-income countries, where almost a quarter of women cannot find work, compared with 17% for men. But access to work is not the only problem: in fact, women tend to be overrepresented in some vulnerable jobs such as nursing professions, family business help, self-employment, while they remain a minority in engineering, information technology and mathematics . are famous STEM subjects, although the number of female students studying in Italy is constantly growing. It is in these areas that women manage to narrow the gender gap and in some cases outperform men, but unfortunately a lot of prejudice and stereotypes still prevent many girls from entering science departments where job opportunities are more lucrative.
“This vulnerability, coupled with lower employment levels, affects the incomes of women,” who often have low financial literacy and cannot manage their savings. According to the Mastercard report “Women and Finance: A Portrait of Italian Women Between Inclusion and the Gender Gap”, money is still perceived as an intermediary, in fact “promoting freedom”, as the main driver of financial independence, but 7 out of 10 Italian women say they still have little financial knowledge. In particular52.7% say they have basic knowledge, and 18.2% know absolutely nothing.. A reality that, unfortunately, unites all age groups and requires greater investment in educational and outreach programs in order to disseminate basic knowledge about personal finance and gaining financial independence, which is key to avoiding certain types of toxic dynamics.
Added to the employment gap and low financial literacy is a pay gap that varies widely across countries, with women earning just 33 cents on the dollar in low-income regions and 58 cents on the dollar in high-income regions. “This significant income disparity is due to both women’s low employment rates and their lower average wages when they are working,” which pushes them to leave jobs more easily when it comes to choosing which parent should stay. . home to take care of the children. A well-known dynamic that demonstrates that access (and permanence) in the world of work continues to be a challenge for women and society at large.
Source: Elle