The Economic Power of Gender Equality

Employment represents the bridge between economic development and poverty reduction - the availability of more and more productive jobs in the formal sector is key to improved living conditions.

Today over 200 million people worldwide are unemployed. Unemployment particularly affects women and young people. Women are to a large extent employed within the informal sector and suffers greatly from the lack of decent work. Difficulties in finding jobs providing a living wage, adequate social protection and maternity protection are a few examples of issues which women as a group are particularly exposed to. Advancing women’s equality can add 12 trillion USD to global growth according to a McKinsey report from 2015.

As an investor we need to address these challenges in the companies that we invest in and work together in partnerships to achieve changes that lead to greater equality, non-discrimination, equal wage and more women on management positions. Gender equality is fundamental for driving profitability, it creates better decision-making and also spurs innovation.

Anna Ryott, MD and CEO at Swedfund, describes how Swedfund actively works with these issues at the UN Foundation Blog Her Goals, Our Future. The Economic Power of Gender Equality