Research shows that women remain in a considerably less stable position
PwC launched two surveys to mark International Women’s Day 2024, celebrated this Friday (8). Using data presented in the Women in Work Index and Inclusion Matters studies, the company concluded that progress towards gender equality in the workplace continues to be a challenge.
One of the pieces of information that led PwC to reach this conclusion was that, according to the 12th edition of the Women in Work Index, it would take more than half a century to reduce the wage gap between men and women in all Organization for Co-operation and Cooperation countries. Economic Development (OECD).
Despite some progress over the last decade, this year’s analysis revealed that there is still a long way to go to achieve gender equality at work across all five indicators.
Between 2021 and 2022, most of the OECD-wide improvement was driven by an increase in the female labor force participation rate (from 70.8% to 72.1%), as well as a fall in the female unemployment rate. (from 6.4% to 5.3%).
However, the average pay gap between men and women in the OECD increased from 13.2% to 13.5% during this period, which shows that despite greater participation, women remain in a considerably less stable position in terms of return to the job market, compared to men.
Since the creation of the Women in Work Index in 2011, the wage gap between men and women has been the indicator that takes the longest to show improvement, decreasing by just three percentage points between 2011 and 2022 across the OECD.
In relation to women’s perceptions in the workplace, PwC’s Inclusion Matters survey found that only 39% of women feel that they are financially rewarded fairly for their work.
The analysis also concluded that inclusion is positively related to autonomous development and women who feel more included are 1.7 times more likely to actively seek opportunities to learn and develop new skills.
“The results of these two surveys demonstrate the long road we still have ahead towards gender equity. In Brazil, we observe that the market follows global trends. Here at PwC Brasil we believe that inclusion is essential to drive progress towards gender equity and we work towards this, an example is the launch of the fifth edition of WiL (Women in Leadership), our program that contributes to the career development of our female leaders”, said Lia Fonseca, partner at PwC Brasil and leader for gender equity issues .
