More women in workforce could add $20T to global GDP by 2050: analysis

Increased participation in the workforce by women could add $20 trillion to the global economy by 2050, according to a new analysis by Bloomberg economists.

The analysis, published Tuesday, looked at 36 countries and examined the effects the coronavirus pandemic has had on female participation in the labor force.

The study found that 58.4 percent of women ages 25 to 64 are in the workforce, compared with 92.1 percent of men in the same age range.

The workforce participation rate among women in India is only 16.6 percent, but could add 30 percent to its country’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 2050 if the gap between men and women is closed.

The COVID-19 downturn has been referred to by many economists as the first female recession in the U.S., as hundreds of thousands of women have fallen out of the workforce, sometimes job cuts, other times because of childcare needs or because family members have fallen ill.

The Bloomberg study found that if women received better access to secondary education, child care and flexible work arrangements, they would be able to occupy as many jobs as men and add trillions of dollars to the global economy.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said earlier this month that COVID-19 “set us back across the world,” referring to women’s rights and their participation in the workforce.

“As we come out of this pandemic, we all have to pay attention to how we repair the damage and try to get us back on a better trajectory, so we can continue to expand opportunities and full participation for women and girls and every aspect of society and the economy across the globe,” she said.

A group of 50 male politicians, actors and other prominent figures published an open letter last month calling for mothers to receive $2,400 in monthly payments for “unpaid labor at home.”