Women Won’t Earn Equal Pay For How Many Years?!
Brace yourself, ladies. It looks like women are not set to start earning equal pay for another 217 years, according to NowThis Her.
During the 2017 World Economic Forum, held every year in the Swiss town of Davos, researches revealed their new calculations for how long it will take to end the pay and employment opportunities gap between men and women in the workforce.
Last year during the global meeting, researchers calculated it would take 170 years, now they are estimating an additional 47 years before we see equal pay and employment.
And it’s not only the pay gap between men and women that is set to have a longer shelf life. The overall gender gap (equal access to healthcare, education and participation in politics) will also take longer to achieve than originally anticipated.
Last year, researches estimated it would take 83 years before seeing a close in the overall gender gap. Now, researches are estimating it will take 100 years to see the gap close, according to The Guardian.
The research used to deliver the results are based off of 144 countries and their current standing when it comes to the disparity between men and women in areas such as health, education, and economic and political standing.
Taking the top spot is Iceland, which has secured the No. 1 ranking for the past nine years after closing the gender gap between men and women by 88 percent.
The U.S. ranked number 49 on the list and moved up in the ranks regarding men and women having equal access to education attainment. However, the U.S. lost momentum in both economic participation and opportunity, and political empowerment.
A major reason for the decline in political empowerment comes from women only filling 27 percent of the Trump administration’s jobs, resulting in the U.S. scoring the lowest it ever has in the past 10 years, according to BBC News.
The good news is women are landing more jobs in notoriously male-dominated fields such as manufacturing, engineering, and technology. More women are even choosing to run for office as well.
The report cites, “Learning between countries and public-private cooperation within countries will be critical elements of closing the gender gap.”
They even provided the financial gain countries would see within their economy should they take the necessary measures to help close the gender gap.
The U.S. could add an additional $1,750 billion to the GDP to the economy.