HELSINKI (dpa-AFX) - A report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) says its study indicates it will take centuries to achieve gender parity in workplaces around the globe.
Despite the global gender gap narrowing slightly in 2018, the long term outlook is bleak.
At the current rate of change, WEF data suggest that it will take 108 years to close the overall gender gap and 202 years to bring about parity in the workplace.
According to the Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2018, published Tuesday, the world has closed 68 percent of its gender gap.
Of the four pillars measured, only one - economic opportunity - narrowed its gender gap. This is largely due to a narrower income gap between men and women, which stands at nearly 51 percent in 2018, and the number of women in leadership roles, which stands at 34 percent globally.
However, data suggest that proportionately fewer women than men are participating in the workforce. There are a number of potential reasons for this. One is that automation is having a disproportionate impact on roles traditionally performed by women. At the same time, women are under-represented in growing areas of employment that require STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) skills and knowledge. Another potential reason is that the infrastructure needed to help women enter or re-enter the workforce - such as childcare and eldercare - is under-developed and unpaid work remains primarily the responsibility of women. The corollary is that the substantial investments made by many economies to close the education gap are failing to generate optimal returns in the form of growth.
The other three pillars - education, health and politics - saw their gender gaps widen in 2018. The year-on-year deterioration in political empowerment can be partly attributed to the lower tenure of women in head-of-state roles around the world. However, data also suggest that a regional divergence is taking place, with 22 Western economies witnessing an improvement in political empowerment for women as opposed to a widening in the rest of the world. When it comes to women in parliament, these Western economies - which collectively have closed 41% of the gap - saw progress reverse in 2018.
Having closed more than 85.8 percent of its overall gender gap, Iceland remains the world's most gender-equal country. It holds the top spot in the Index for the 10th consecutive year.
Other economies in the top 10 include Nordic countries Norway, Sweden, and Finland, as well as Nicaragua and Rwanda. Namibia is the second country from the sub-Saharan Africa region to enter the top 10.
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