Women continue to get shortchanged at work despite decades of anti-discrimination efforts. According to a new report, gender inequality persists worldwide, with women earning just one-third of what men earn per hour.
The World Inequality Report highlights that women work longer hours than men and often struggle to balance their paid and unpaid workloads. Women aged 15 to 64 work an average of 10 extra hours a week compared to men, but despite this additional workload, they only earn around a quarter of total global income. The gap in earnings has barely shifted over the past three decades.
Women's lower earning potential is not due to their individual abilities or choices but largely because unpaid domestic and care work still disproportionately falls on women's shoulders. This includes tasks such as childcare, household chores, and caregiving for family members. These invisible tasks are often stigmatized as "women's work" and can make it difficult for them to compete with men in the paid workforce.
As a result, women tend to take lower-paying jobs or part-time work to balance their care responsibilities, which limits their earning potential. The report notes that this perpetuates a cycle of inequality, where women are excluded from better-paying jobs due to societal norms and stereotypes about their abilities.
The report's findings suggest that the patriarchy is deeply embedded in institutions and economic systems. To achieve true equality, change must happen at multiple levels, including government policies, legislative changes, and shifts in societal attitudes towards care work and unpaid responsibilities.
As programme director at UN Women, Jocelyn Chu emphasizes that addressing gender inequality requires a fundamental transformation of how we organize our societies and economies. The report's authors note that progress has been made, but more needs to be done to challenge the deeply ingrained patriarchal norms that continue to hold women back in their careers and earning potential.
The World Inequality Report highlights that women work longer hours than men and often struggle to balance their paid and unpaid workloads. Women aged 15 to 64 work an average of 10 extra hours a week compared to men, but despite this additional workload, they only earn around a quarter of total global income. The gap in earnings has barely shifted over the past three decades.
Women's lower earning potential is not due to their individual abilities or choices but largely because unpaid domestic and care work still disproportionately falls on women's shoulders. This includes tasks such as childcare, household chores, and caregiving for family members. These invisible tasks are often stigmatized as "women's work" and can make it difficult for them to compete with men in the paid workforce.
As a result, women tend to take lower-paying jobs or part-time work to balance their care responsibilities, which limits their earning potential. The report notes that this perpetuates a cycle of inequality, where women are excluded from better-paying jobs due to societal norms and stereotypes about their abilities.
The report's findings suggest that the patriarchy is deeply embedded in institutions and economic systems. To achieve true equality, change must happen at multiple levels, including government policies, legislative changes, and shifts in societal attitudes towards care work and unpaid responsibilities.
As programme director at UN Women, Jocelyn Chu emphasizes that addressing gender inequality requires a fundamental transformation of how we organize our societies and economies. The report's authors note that progress has been made, but more needs to be done to challenge the deeply ingrained patriarchal norms that continue to hold women back in their careers and earning potential.
Women are still getting screwed over at work like they're some kind of joke. One-third of what men earn per hour?! It's just ridiculous. And don't even get me started on the hours they work - 10 extra hours a week? That's not just exhausting, that's debilitating. I mean, can you imagine having to choose between a promotion and taking care of your family? It's like they're choosing between being human and being a functioning member of society.
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The whole "women are just too busy" thing is just a nice way of saying they can't compete in the paid workforce because, you know, society thinks they're not cut out for it. And let's be real, who wouldn't want to do all that unpaid domestic and care work? Sounds like a dream come true... 
Women getting shortchanged at work despite decades of anti-discrimination efforts is still a major issue worldwide. Women are working longer hours than men & struggling to balance paid & unpaid workloads but still only earn 1/3 of what men earn per hour 
. We need to shift societal attitudes towards care work & unpaid responsibilities to achieve true equality 
Let's do this, world! #GenderEqualityNow #FairPayForAll #CareWorkMatters
I'm like super frustrated about this report 
. It's crazy to think that despite all these years of trying to break down barriers, women are still getting screwed over at work 
. One-third of what men earn per hour? That's not fair at all 
. We need to shift our priorities and start valuing care work and unpaid responsibilities more 
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10 extra hours of work for what? 
. We need to change this, like, now! 
it's sad to think women are still being shortchanged decades after anti-discrimination efforts started, but I guess you can't just wave a magic wand and expect change overnight 
. the fact that unpaid domestic work is still so heavily weighted on women's shoulders is just another level of messed up 
. it's not about individual ability or choice, it's about systemic inequality, which means we need to fundamentally shift our societal attitudes and economic systems to create real change 
. And don't even get me started on how much extra time women put in at work compared to men... like, who has that kind of time? 
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. Maybe it's time for us to rethink what it means to be a "good parent" or a "good employee" 
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