Publication - Improving Opportunities for Women in the United States
© 2016 Organisation for EconomicCo-operation and Development
Women’s economic opportunities have greatly improved in the United States over past decades, with benefit to overall society.
Women increasingly outperform men at the various levels of education and are more likely than men to attend college and obtain a higher education degree. Women also tend to have better economic opportunities in the United States than in many other OECD countries, in particular in the job market. The share of women in managerial positions is particularly high by international comparison.
The rise in female labour market participation provided an important boost to household incomes, helping to ease living conditions for families. Nonetheless, numerous challenges remain to further reduce gender inequalities. After years of rising presence in the labour force, the share of working-age women participating in the job market has declined since the mid-1990s and no longer appears significantly higher than the OECD area.
In terms of wages, past progress made in the United States in narrowing the gender wage gap has lost some momentum recently and remains at about 17%, higher than on average in OECD countries. In addition, American women continue to make much more unpaid work than men, about 60% more. Further progress in reducing gender inequalities will require reforms in paid parental leave and childcare support, which have been found by empirical research to be important drivers of female labour force participation. Currently, the United States provides basic support for children, mothers, and fathers in the form of unpaid parental leave, child-related tax breaks, and limited public childcare. It is the only OECD country without a national paid maternity leave policy. Nationally-legislated unpaid job-protected leave is short (12 weeks), and only available to about 60% of workers. Paid leave payments with job protection are offered only by a few states and some employers as part of their employee benefit packages.
Therefore, changes in job structure and remuneration, particularly if job flexibility comes at the cost of reduced hourly wages, are required to further closing gender wage gaps. Likewise, to advance women’s opportunities in the workforce, the United States needs to improve the flexibility of working arrangements, provide national access to paid family leave, and increase access to quality pre-school and childcare.
The potential gains of implementing these measures are large, as they help get and keep more women in the workforce contributing to economic growth - closing the gender gap in labour force participation rates by 2040 could increase GDP per capita by USD 4 300 -, reduce replacement and training costs for employers, offer cognitive and health benefits to children, and extend choice for parents in finding their preferred worklife strategy. In this context, the OECD Centre for Opportunity and Equality (COPE), the OECD Economics Department and the OECD Washington Center have invited policy makers, researchers, and members from the business community to discuss and provide insights on women and the workforce in the United States, the gender wage gap, working conditions and relevant family-friendly policies that would help to promote female labour force participation and contribute to higher economic growth by improving opportunities for women in the United States.
© 2016 Organisation for EconomicCo-operation and Development
page source http://www.oecd.org/
