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A 25-year-old woman named Sofia recently graduated from De La Salle University in Manila alongside her boyfriend. Both of them received their Masters of Business Administration and within the first six months of their graduation, they were hired at prestigious consulting firms in the Philippines. When they first started, their salaries were similar to each other, with the boyfriend earning slightly more than Sofia.

Ten years later, Sofia and her boyfriend are married and have a baby girl together. After ten years at their consulting firms, both of them have high positions at their respective companies. However, while Sofia and her husband have the same education as each other, the gap in their salaries has become much wider than when they first started, and her husband has a higher position at his company.

After the birth of their daughter, Sofia has felt another gap forming in her life; one between her and her husband. He promised to help out with household tasks when their daughter was born, but ever since Sofia was on maternity leave, she has been taking on a disproportionate amount of child-rearing responsibilities. Even when Sofia went back to work full-time, nothing changed in their household and she continued to partake in the majority of child-rearing activities.

One night after their daughter fell asleep, Sofia confronted her husband about how she wished he would make a better effort at contributing to their household responsibilities. She expressed her frustration that as the woman, raising their daughter has been subjected to solely her duty.

…

My primary source discussed how women are often subjected to child-rearing activities. Women are assumed to be more gentle and better caretakers, and this kind of mindset perpetuates gender roles within a household.

These social norms can be extended to how women are viewed in the workforce. A second source I used expressed how women are typically given the caretaker role, and this causes them to have fewer hours to work and require a greater need for more flexible hours. A study showed that there is a larger wage gap between women MBAs who have kids compared to those who do not have kids. These women take a disproportionate amount of child-rearing tasks and have been found to do more when managing their kids’ schedules, taking care of sick kids, and handling the majority of household chores, all while both mom and dad worked full time.

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Gender age discrimination & occupational segregation impacts economic growth, especially in export-oriented economies

Higher rates of fertility = lower economic growth

Allowing women to participate in the workforce increases economic growth

This overtime can help to dismantle gender-based discrimination --> more women in workforce can lead to an increase of representation of women in leadership positions

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Gender Discrimination and Talent Misallocation:

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Gender Discrimination and Talent Misallocation:

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Not allowing women access to education, market employment, or certain occupations draws talent from a smaller pool than with an economy without such restrictions

Barriers to women’s education, employment, and occupational choice leads to the misallocation of talent in the workforce/economy

Gender discrimination in managerial and entrepreneurial occupations on innovation, technology adoption, and productivity

Consider the role of social norms and stereotypes in perpetuating gender-based discrimination in the workforce

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Perpetuating gender roles play a role in unitary households

Factors such as physical strength, health, labor market discrimination, and son preference contributes to gender disparities within families

Women are assumed to be more productive in child rearing

1. A study shows that there is a larger wage gap between women MBAs who have kids vs don’t have kids → these women take a disproportionate amount of child rearing tasks:

2. Women did more when managing their kids’ schedules

3. Women did more when taking care of sick kids

4. Women did more of handling majority of household chores

5. All while both mom and dad worked full time

1. It’s important to spread out the roles because both parents are working together, it’s not just the woman’s job to do everything

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The availability of contraceptives and women’s empowerment can influence fertility rates and the division of labor within households → gives women a choice to have a child which further extends to their choice of being in the workforce

1. Availability of contraceptives won’t have to subject women to the household if she doesn’t want to solely take on child rearing activities

Men and women have near identical preferences and capabilities, but women often have to pay the full cost of child rearing

Impact of wage discrimination in the labor market on women’s specialization in time-intensive household activities

“Women face wage discrimination in the labor market, so their opportunity cost of time is lower than men’s. As a result, women specialize in the production of the most time-intensive household public goods (e.g., childrearing activities), while men specialize in the production of goods-intensive public goods (e.g., housing infrastructure)” --> quote from primary source

Reducing the gender survival gap and child mortality in attracting women to the labor market and lowering fertility rates

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Directions for Future Research and Policies:

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Directions for Future Research and Policies:

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There should be more policy directions and research related to gender inequality and its impact on economic development

Policies should aim to provide women equal access to food, healthcare, and education

Importance of public investments, gender-based taxation, and environmental considerations in addressing gender gaps

Reforms to taxation, public spending, financial infrastructure and regulations, as well as labor markets to allow women to work outside the home/start their own businesses

Comprehensive policy interventions should address gender gaps in different dimensions

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Santos Silva, Manuel, and Stephan Klasen. “Gender Inequality as a Barrier to Economic Growth: A Review of the Theoretical Literature.” Review of Economics of the Household, vol. 19, 15 Jan. 2021, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11150-020-09535-6Links to an external site.,

Vox. “What People Miss about the Gender Wage Gap.” YouTube, 7 Sept. 2016,www.youtube.com/watch?v=13XU4fMlN3w,Links to an external site.

Georgieva, Kristalina, et al. “How to Close Gender Gaps and Grow the Global Economy.” IMF, 8 Sept. 2022, www.imf.org/en/Blogs/Articles/2022/09/08/how-to-close-gender-gaps-and-grow-the-global-economy. Links to an external site.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDiOXjBK8xM “Feminist economics is everything. The revolution is now! | Lebohang Pheko | TEDxLytteltonWomen”

https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Goal-5_Fast-Facts.pdf “What is Goal 5 - Gender Equality”

https://www.oxfam.org/en/why-majority-worlds-poor-are-women “Why the majority of the world’s poor are women”