WORLD BANK / WORKPLACE GENDER EQUALITY

Women worldwide are losing ground in the employment sector.  A new World Bank Group report says nearly four in 10 people globally - close to one half in developing countries - agree that when jobs are scarce, men are more entitled to them than women. WORLD BANK

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Production Date: 20 February 2014
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: WORLD BANK
• Subject Topical: EMPLOYMENT; EDUCATION; TRAINING PROGRAMMES; EMPLOYMENT; LABOUR RELATIONS; MANPOWER; OCCUPATIONS; WOMEN'S RIGHTS; DISCRIMINATION
• MAMS Id: U140220d

Description

STORY: WORLD BANK / WORKPLACE GENDER EQUALITY
TRT: 1:33
SOURCE: WORLD BANK
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

LOCATION: RECENT, WASHINGTON, DC

Shotlist

FILE – 2013, BANGLADESH

1. Tracking shot, women passing baskets of dirt on their heads
Med shot, women dumping baskets of dirt on road

FILE – 2011, EGYPT

2. Med shot, seamstress sewing clothes

FILE – 2013, COSTA RICA

3. Med shot, women working on jewellery
4. Med shot, women working on jewellery

RECENT, WASHINGTON, DC

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Jeni Klugman, Report Co-Author, World Bank Group:
“One of the most surprising findings of our new global report, Gender at Work, is that women’s labour force participation globally has stagnated, indeed it’s declined from some 57 to 55 percent globally over the past thirty years. The reasons for this will differ from country to country, but we think that the persistence of norms, which mean that women don’t have as much choice over their livelihoods as men, as well as legal barriers to work, both are playing important roles.”

FILE – 2013, NEPAL

6. Med shot, woman flipping through documents

FILE – 2011, BRAZIL

7. Med shot, farmers working in field
8. Close up, farmer cutting crops

RECENT, WASHINGTON, DC

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Jeni Klugman, Report Co-Author, World Bank Group:
“It’s important to address the barriers to work and this can be done in a number of cases through legislative reform so removing constraints on women signing a contract or taking out a loan or being able to inherit property and making these sorts of changes are important because estimates show that there can be significant increases in growth and productivity, if more women are able to enter the work force.”

10. FILE - 2012, RWANDA

11. Wide shot, women working in office
12. Close up, woman working at computer

Storyline

Women worldwide are losing ground in the employment sector. A new World Bank Group report says nearly four in 10 people globally - close to one half in developing countries - agree that when jobs are scarce, men are more entitled to them than women.

The number of women in the labour force worldwide has not only stagnated – it’s dropped from 57 percent to 55 percent in the past few decades. This is despite accumulating evidence that jobs benefit women, families, businesses and communities.

The just-released World Bank Group report says women face multiple constraints that hinder them from getting jobs – constraints that extend throughout their lives.

SOUNDBITE (English) Jeni Klugman, Report Co-Author, World Bank Group:
“One of the most surprising findings of our new global report, Gender at Work, is that women’s labour force participation globally has stagnated, indeed it’s declined from some 57 to 55 percent globally over the past thirty years. The reasons for this will differ from country to country, but we think that the persistence of norms, which mean that women don’t have as much choice over their livelihoods as men, as well as legal barriers to work, both are playing important roles.”

The report stresses the need for bold, coordinated action to advance equal opportunities for women – such as expanding women’s access to property and finance.

SOUNDBITE (English) Jeni Klugman, Report Co-Author, World Bank Group:
“It’s important to address the barriers to work and this can be done in a number of cases through legislative reform so removing constraints on women signing a contract or taking out a loan or being able to inherit property and making these sorts of changes are important because estimates show that there can be significant increases in growth and productivity, if more women are able to enter the work force.”

To advance gender equality at work, the report recommends governments target actions that cover a woman’s life cycle—saying interventions that focus only on women of productive age start too late and end too early. Biases can begin very early in life, sometimes in subtle ways, making it ultimately difficult and costly to resolve inequality.