From man's recession to the ascendancy of women - Building Gender Balanced Business

Women, the recession and the recovery

• Two thirds of the 11 million positions lost since the beginning of the recession were held by men.

• The largest unemployment gender gap since 1945 occurred in August 2009 when 11% of men were out of work as opposed to 8.3% of women.

“When the economy recovers, five years from now, one in six men who are 25 to 54 will not be working.” Larry Summers, economic advisor to Barack Obama

• In the European Union, 75% of the 8 million jobs developed since the turn of the millennium are held by women.

• In two thirds of American homes, women are their families’ providers or co-providers.

• 89% of U.S bank accounts are owned by women, as well as 51% of all personal wealth.

• In the US, 83% of all consumer purchases are made by women.

• American women represent 72% of high school valedictorians and earn 20% more college diplomas than their male counterparts.

• In Brazil, the United Arab Emirates and Russia, female college graduates outnumber male ones.

• In the BRICs, women are starting to make their presence known in the workforce, they make up 30 to 50% of BRIC workers and there’s no reason to think that number won’t keep increasing.

What happens next?

• In the Western world, the integration of women in the workforce is often treated like old news, but in the developing world an awakening is in the works.

• 85% of women in India and 92% in the United Arab Emirates describe themselves as “very ambitious” as opposed to only 36% in the US.

• In Brazil, India, China and the UAE, over 75% of women want to hold a top job.

• 13 of the 15 job categories that will develop the most in the next ten years are expected to be filled predominantly by women.

• Economists stipulate that by the year 2024, the average women in America and in certain rich European countries will make more money than the average man.

• According to the Women’s Learning Partnership, for every year that girls go to school beyond fourth grade, a country’s average salary increases by 20% and the child mortality rate falls by 10%.

• The World Economic Forum has determined that if the US eliminated the persisting employment gender gap, the country’s GDP would grow by 9%.

• In the BRICs and the N-11 nations, involving women could increase capita by 14% by 2020 and 20% by 2030.

The Newsweek Article