– Global progress on achieving gender parity at work is slow, according to PwC’s Women in Work Index and Inclusion Matters studies published for International Women’s Day 2024.
– The 2024 Women in Work Index indicates it will take over 50 years to close the gender pay gap across 33 OECD countries.
– The Women in Work Index measures gender equality at work in the OECD using five indicators: the gender pay gap, female labor force participation rate, gap between male and female labor force participation rates, female unemployment rate, and female full-time employment rate.
– Over the past decade, the average Index score increased from 56.3 in 2011 to 68 in 2022, with a two-point improvement from 66 in 2021 to 68 in 2022.
– Between 2021 and 2022, improvements in the OECD were mainly due to an increase in the female labor force participation rate (from 70.8% to 72.1%) and a decrease in the female unemployment rate (from 6.4% to 5.3%).
– The average gender pay gap in the OECD widened from 13.2% to 13.5% between 2021 and 2022.
– The gender pay gap has narrowed by only three percentage points between 2011 and 2022 across the OECD.
– Luxembourg ranks first on the Index, particularly due to having the lowest gender pay gap in the OECD at -0.2%, indicating higher median pay for women than men.
– PwC’s Inclusion Matters research, part of the Global Hopes and Fears Survey 2023, found that only 39% of women feel fairly rewarded financially at work.
– The research shows a significant gender gap in asking for promotions and pay raises, but women with high Inclusion Index scores are more likely to ask for raises, promotions, and recommend their employer.
– Women’s turnover intentions increased, with one in four planning to change employers within the next 12 months, slightly below the rate for men at 27%.
– Higher inclusion scores correlate with less likelihood of changing employers and more active pursuit of development and new skills by women.
