Gender Employment Gap Shows Highest Decline Since 2019, Says Moody's

A study Conducted by Moody’s Analytics on ‘Narrowing the Gender Participation Gap’ released on Wednesday, found that India’s gender employment gap has declined most post-pandemic. However, it is still four times behind the US and European Union.

As per the parameters, the gender employment gap is a relative disparity in the employment of people of different genders. The report showed that the gender labor force participation gaps are narrowing across the globe as more women are participating in the workforce. 

The report adds that the existing larger gaps can be because of traditional gender roles and insufficient supportive policies for women.

The Moody’s study takes the labour force participation rate as the proportion of the working-age population (age 20 to 64) that is either employed or actively seeking employment. 

According to the analysis, the income generated by the new entrants in the workforce benefit both the domestic and world economy. It leads to higher production, higher income tax revenue, lesser government expenditures and second-round effects on demand to boost the global economy.

The study points that the female participation rates are rebounding more than male across all major economies since the pandemic. The attribution factors involved the labor market regulations, flexible working conditions and surge in inflation. However, the female participation got increased but male participation increased.

The report says that economies with more reliance on service sectors have narrower gender gaps in comparison to those where the traditional men led industries dominate. 

As the push factors such as high inflation and remote working ease there are chances that the situation can reverse.