"Women are just men without money." On International Women's Day itis worth remembering Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Samuelson's1975 quip because, sadly, it's still relevant today. Only 30 percentof the world's formal workforce is made up of women. Women make only10 percent of world's income and own only 1 percent of the world'sproperty. Of 1.2 billion people living in poverty worldwide, 70percent are women.
Fifteen years after the United Nations Fourth World Conference onWomen in Beijing established women's rights as human rights, it isstill essential that the world take up this challenge, acknowledgingthat without economic opportunity, women are not free in any realsense to pursue their hard-won rights.
Today, although more women are employed than ever before -- in theU.S. women are about to become over half the workforce, and around theworld, women's share of nonagricultural employment has at least stayedthe same or risen from 2000 to 2006 -- women still lag behind men inemployment and wages, access to capital, and economic security. Nonation can succeed in spreading prosperity or increasing security ifhalf its population is left behind.
Detailed country-specific and gender-disaggregated data on employmentand wages is lacking in many cases. However, research by theOrganization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) showsthat while gender wage gaps in OECD member countries have decreasedover time, an average difference of 18 percent still remains.Additional analysis of available data by the International Center forResearch on Women (ICRW) finds evidence since 2000 that informalemployment -- which often lack job security, benefits or adequateincome -- continues to represent a larger share of women's employmentthan men's.
While the education gap has narrowed in many countries, otherobstacles to employment remain. The ability to stay in the workforceis constrained when women lack access to childcare or paid familyleave -- even in most OECD countries, women spend at least twice asmuch time on caretaking than men. In some developing countries, womenand girls can spend more time collecting firewood or water thanattending school or going to work outside the home. And gender-basedviolence is not only a human rights violation but an impediment toeconomic activity. Access to counseling and contraception is alsonecessary for economic advancement.
In many countries, women face restrictions on inheriting or owningproperty and have difficulty getting a loan from a bank.
Without the ability to earn, own, save or invest on her own, a woman-- especially one with children to support -- does not enjoy thefreedom to leave an abusive relationship, escape sexual exploitation,or exercise political rights. She is not free to choose to send herdaughter to school or care for her elderly mother; nor can she realizeher own potential by starting a small business or furthering her owneducation.
Removing these barriers is important not only to women but to theirfamilies, communities and countries. Economists have determined thatempowering women in their own right is key to economic growth, becausewomen are more inclined to choose more productive uses for money --including supporting their children. When women work, they invest upto 90 percent of their income back into their families. As U.S.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said, "women and girls are oneof the world's greatest untapped resources." We cannot build astable, global economy if we fail to leverage our human capital.
Making these changes requires political will. A better understandingof the economic challenges women face and the steps that can make adifference can help change political dynamics.
When President Obama signed the paycheck fairness legislation -- thefirst bill he signed into law -- he said, "I know that if we stayfocused...we will make sure that our daughters have the same rights, thesame chances, and the same freedom to pursue their dreams as oursons." To reach that goal, we must continue to make progress aroundthe world on the economic empowerment of women.