UNITED NATIONS, Oct 16 (IPS) – International Day for the Eradication of Poverty The growing gender gap between men and women is reflected not only in the world’s highest political hierarchies, but also in everyday social and economic life – with most women fighting against a losing position. fight against poverty.
UN Women’s latest flagship report reveals a growing gender gap in social protection – the set of policies including benefits, unemployment protection, pensions and healthcare – making women and girls more vulnerable to poverty.
Published ahead of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on October 17 The report shows that as many as two billion women and girls do not have access to any form of social protection.
While levels of social protection have increased since 2015, gender gaps in this coverage have widened in most developing regions, suggesting that recent progress has benefited men more than women.
In a world of unrest, the report calls on governments to provide women and girls with sustainable opportunities to escape poverty by prioritizing the needs of women and girls in their social protection measures and crisis responses.
Sandra Ramirez, Legal and Advocacy Advisor at Equality Now, tells IPS that women around the world continue to be denied their economic rights – and their economic participation is hampered by a range of gender-discriminatory laws, including laws that regulate labor and prevent women from have equal access to property ownership, inheritance and pension rights.
In many countries, she pointed out, women face barriers to accessing credit and bank accounts and are excluded from certain professions. Financial inequality prevents many women from accumulating wealth, achieving economic stability, and investing in essentials like housing, health care, and retirement.
“Legal and social restrictions on women’s access to education and economic participation limit their earning potential, widen the gender pay gap and limit their decision-making power. “These combine to leave women disproportionately represented in low-paid, precarious and unregulated jobs, with limited access to career opportunities,” she said.
The new report from UN Women highlights how globally, only 36.4% of women with newborns were covered by maternity benefits in 2023. Without adequate paid maternity leave, new mothers are often forced to return to work shortly after giving birth, potentially jeopardizing their physical and mental health as they juggle the demands of childcare and work.
The lack of paid paternity leave in many countries perpetuates traditional gender roles, places the burden of care on women and forces mothers to choose between their careers and family responsibilities.
The unequal distribution of unpaid care work and the undervaluing of women’s unpaid care and domestic work exacerbate the obstacles women face, says Ramirez, who lives in Colombia.
Ben Phillips, author of ‘How to Fight Inequality’ and a former adviser to governments on social policy, says the figures from UN Women’s powerful new report should spur policymakers into action.
“The widening gap in social protection is pushing millions of people into misery, driving deprivation across generations, holding back growth and undermining the social contract. The data in this report does not merely expose a series of unfortunate policy mistakes, but instead structural, systemic and spiraling inequality that is setting the stage for a moment when development, prosperity and stability are all at risk.”
The reason for hope, he emphasized, is that there are policy solutions that have been proven to work. The challenge, however, is to overcome elite political barriers to equalizing policy proposals. The only safe approach for the world right now is for leaders to be courageous, and for citizens to organize to ensure they do so,” he declared.
Meanwhile, the report shows the dismal state of maternity protection around the world. Despite progress, more than 63 percent of women worldwide still give birth without access to maternity benefits, while in sub-Saharan Africa this figure has risen to 94 percent.
The lack of financial support during maternity leave not only places women at an economic disadvantage, it also puts their health and well-being and that of their children at risk, perpetuating poverty for generations.
The report also paints a stark picture of the gendered nature of poverty. Women and girls are overrepresented among the poor at every stage of life, with the greatest disparities during childbearing years. Women between the ages of 25 and 34 are 25 percent more likely to live in extremely poor households than men in the same age group.
Conflict and climate change exacerbate this inequality. Women in fragile environments are 7.7 times more likely to live in extreme poverty compared to women in non-fragile environments.
Gender-specific risks and vulnerabilities are often overlooked in the aftermath of shocks. For example, very high inflation rates since 2022, which have led to rising food and energy prices, have hit women particularly hard.
Yet of the nearly 1,000 social protection measures taken by governments in 171 countries in the following months, only 18 percent targeted women’s economic security.
Equality Now’s Ramirez said the gender gap in social protection means women bear the brunt of economic instability and undermines their ability to recover and thrive. Climate change and conflict around the world are increasing economic inequality for women, as resources are diverted from the social protections they so desperately need.
With two billion women and girls without access to basic social safety nets, they are being pushed further into poverty, especially in regions devastated by environmental disasters, war and unrest.
“The push for increased military spending under the guise of national security has in several cases resulted in cuts to budgets supporting women, depriving them of essential services such as shelter and legal resources. Furthermore, tax regimes, trade policies and international agreements have often been at odds with the interests of women and girls, further entrenching gender inequality.”
To address the gender pay gap, Ramirez argued, governments are needed to actively strengthen legal protections for women in the labor market. This includes avoiding being limited to low-paid or unregulated positions. It also requires addressing the problem of women being forced to leave work due to unpaid care and subsequently denied equal access to a pension.
“The adoption of progressive laws, such as equal pay for equal work by governments, is important, and the robust implementation of these laws is critical to meaningful change. Women’s participation in the economy should not be seen as a trade-off between competing development priorities. “it must be embedded at the core of all development processes”.
It’s time to change the narrative, she said. “Increasing women’s economic involvement, recognizing and valuing their contributions and expertise, and redefining the way we measure and promote economic activity must be recognized as urgent imperatives.”
Presenting the report, at a joint event with the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), Sarah Hendriks, Director of Policy, Program and Intergovernmental Affairs at UN Women, said the potential of social protection for gender equality , resilience and transformation is enormous.
“To harness this, we must center the dignity, agency and empowerment of women and girls at every stage of the process – from policy and program design to implementation and financing.”
With contributions from academia, civil society and the UN system, especially the International Labor Organization (ILO), the report highlights examples of progress. Countries such as Mongolia have extended the benefits of maternity leave to informal workers, including herders and the self-employed, while also strengthening paternity leave to support gender equality in caregiving responsibilities
In countries such as Mexico and Tunisia, steps have been taken to include domestic workers in social security systems. In Senegal, the National Health Insurance System has expanded and adapted its services to cater to rural women, with support from UN Women.
These initiatives demonstrate the transformative potential of social protection systems, policies and programs that are gender responsive, that is, that pay special attention to the unique challenges women and girls face.
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© Inter Press Service (2024) — All rights reservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service