On international women´s day

March 8 marks the international women´s day, why do we still need to continue celebrating this year? The answer: gender equality is not universal. This OECD note lists some of the reasons:

- There are still places where the right of girls to an education is not universally accepted

- Women still earn less than men, even if they are as well educated (see previous note)

- There are recorded cases of violence against women

To read the full article click here. 

WEF Gender Gap Report 2012

In this link it can be found the 2012 issue of the WEF Gender Gap Report. it presents the Global Gender Gap Index, a framework for capturing the magnitude and scope of gender-based disparities and tracking their progress. 

Labor market outcomes and gender gap in LAC

In this interesting study labor market outcomes between men and women are analyzed for countries of the region. For example, it has been found that while wage gap between men and women has decreased in the last years the convergence is slow and today an average wage gap of 17 per cent for the region remains.

Mandatory paternity leave

One tool to facilitate the work of women is to allow paternity leaves to be used by any of the partners in marriage. Traditionally, this benefict was grantes only to working women. In Sweden, additionally, there is now a mandate for fathers to take up part of the leave.

UN: February 20 World Day of Social Justice

On 20 February the UN celebrates the World Day of Social Justice in order to invite Member States to devote this special day to promote, at national level, specific activities in accordance with the objectives and goals of the World Summit for Social Development and the twenty-fourth session of the General Assembly. Here the official link to the page of the UN: http://www.un.org/en/events/socialjusticeday/

Labor market behavior and retirement in the Americas

Chapter II of the Americas Social Security Report 2012 describes the main regional trends in labor variables around statutory retirement ages. It analyzes labor force participation, intensity of work by older adults, earnings of wotking older adults, characteristics of occupied labor, and urban/rural comparisons.

In previous notes we saw some graphs and results, but these are the main conclusions of the chapter:
- Individuals around retirement ages are working more in the Americas when compare 2010 with 1970, with few exceptions.
- There remains a decline in participation in the labor force that usually begins around age 50 and accelerates at age 60.
- Those staying in the market after age 50 have low unemployment, but they work gradually less hours per week.
- There is a very sharp decline in average earnings after age 50 in Latin America.
- By age 60, workers have become self-employed or employers.
- Young women work more in the urban sector, whereas adult women have higher participation in rural areas. Men in the rural sector have higher participation rates, except for the age groups between 30 and 59 years ald when rates are similar. Hours worked and wages are always higher in urban areas.

"Gender equality bonus" in Switzerland

In Sweden, in addition to fathers already receive great benefits with couples sharing maternity leave, the parliament has just approved an "gender equality bonus" of 3,000 swedish kronor (£ 287) each month for couples in which the father takes over caring for the baby. More information here.

World Bank: Gender equality raise productivity

According to the World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development published by the World Bank, create better opportunities and conditions for women and girls can raise productivity, improve outcomes for children, make institutions more representative, and advance development prospects for all.