UN report: The gender gap in the labor market is great!

The United Nations Women and the United Nations Economic and Social Committee of Western Asia (ESCWA) issued a report entitled “The progress made in achieving sustainable development goals, a general overview of gender in the Arab region 2024”, which highlights the continuous achievements and challenges in promoting empowerment of women and girls in the Arab region.

The report pointed out that women make up 48.3% of the region’s population, and despite the significant progress in the fields of education and health, women still face a clear marginalization in other areas of development, especially in terms of economic participation.

The report indicated that bridging the gender gap in the labor market will take 115 years if the current pace continues. The figures showed that the percentage of Arab women’s participation in the workforce (56%) is much lower compared to men (81%). It was also found that 23% of women who hold university degrees are either unemployed or outside the labor market, compared to only 10% of men.

As for the income level, the woman’s share of the total work income reached only 14.5%, which is the lowest global and far from the global average of 51.8%. On average, Arab women earn 89 cents for every dollar that men earn, and the number decreases to 82 cents when taking into account education, the type of job and experience.

Despite this gap, the report showed positive aspects, as women’s enrollment in science, technology, engineering and mathematics specializations (STEM) increased, and even outperformed men in the field of science, as the percentage of graduates of this field reached 9% compared to 6.3% of men. The Arab region also recorded 41% of women working in scientific research, which is the third highest globally and higher than the global average of 31.5%.

Arab women recorded 15.7% in administrative positions, while their representation in parliaments remained only 17.7%.

The report emphasized that reducing the gender gap in the labor market can raise the gross domestic product in the region by more than 20%, equivalent to an annual loss of approximately $ 575 billion due to the economic marginalization of women. Estimates also indicated that gender entrepreneurship equality can add $ 1.5 trillion to global GDP.