By Madeline O’Connor
An Oxfam Ireland report has said that women in G20 countries will have to wait 75 years to be earning as much as their male counterparts do.
The report shows that women were over-represented in part-time labour and discriminated against in the households, markets and institutions in G20 countries and beyond.
According to the report, the Eurozone’s GDP would go up by 13% if women’s paid employment rates were the same. The charity says only a “radical change of attitude among society and government” could lead to a resolving of the issue.
CEO Jim Clarken said the gap between women and men’s pay “reflects a fundamental and entrenched form of inequality”.
The report reveals that the absence of women’s rights creates poverty, while their fulfilment drives development, so the gender gap is also about issues that are crucial to the wellbeing of every citizen in a country.
Clarken said: “One of the biggest gender gaps and most fundamental gender inequalities is unpaid care work. Ireland still relies heavily on the unpaid contributions of women – from caring for children, elderly and sick members of the household community and domestic labour.
“This unpaid work is vital for any society, but when it is unequally distributed it creates time deficits that affect women primarily and create gender inequality in society.”