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Women's equality can add $12 trillion to global growth, India can win big

At 17 percent, India has the lowest share of women's contribution to GDP but it can change and how.

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STP Team
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Women's equality can add $12 trillion to global growth, India can win big

Advancing women's equality can add $ 12 trillion to global growth, that's the finding of a latest report by McKinsey. Gender fairness is central to the growth of any economy. We at SheThePeople.TV have been engaged in this conversation since our inception.

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If women-who account for half the world's working-age population-do not achieve their full economic potential, the global economy will suffer.

India has the lowest share of women's contribution to GDP amongst all regions in the world

The McKinsey report analysed 15 gender equality indicators across 95 countries in this study. The study estimates that fully bridging the global gender gap could produce up to $28 trillion of additional global GDP in 2025, which is equivalent to a 26 percent boost compared with the business-as-usual scenario. In 46 of the 95 countries analyzed, the best-in-region outcome could increase annual GDP in 2025 by more than 10 percent over the businesses-usual case, with the highest relative boost in India and Latin America says the study.

Currently, women are particularly under-represented in India's economy - at 17 percent, India has the lowest share of women's contribution to GDP amongst all regions in the world, lower than China (41 percent), Sub-Saharan Africa (39 percent) or Latin America (33 percent). Women in India form just 24 percent of the workforce, compared to 40 percent globally.

 At 17 percent, India has the lowest share of women's contribution to GDP 

McKinsey Gender Report

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Women are half the world’s working-age population but generate only 37% of GDP

Here's why the contribution of women goes unaccounted or under represented. First, women do not participate in the labor force in the same numbers as men. Second, women work fewer hours than men (in the labor force) because many are in part-time jobs; this could be driven partly by choice and partly by their inability to do fulltime work given family- and home-based responsibilities. Third, women are disproportionately represented in lower-productivity sectors such as agriculture and insufficiently represented in higher productivity sectors such as business services. Shifting women into work in higher productivity sectors on a par with the employment pattern of men would contribute further to GDP.

Also Watch: Hiring women is a business imperative says Intel's Debjani Ghosh

International Labour Organisation data find that men are almost three times as likely as women to hold leadership positions as legislators, senior officials, and managers. Women spend three times as many hours in unpaid care work as men; in India and Pakistan, women spend nearly ten times as many hours as men in such activity

mckinsey gender report women at work in india women's economy india
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