Women earn less than men for doing the same job, particularly after they have had children, and the high cost of child care deters many women from working more, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said.
In a report on gender equality, the Paris-based think-tank said that in many countries, employment rates among women have held up better than among men since the onset of the financial crisis in 2008.
But it warned that future cuts in public sector employment are likely to hit women to a greater degree than men, since they account for 60% of government employees.
The OECD said that among its 34 developed-country members, men earn 16% more than women working in similar jobs. For people without children, the gap is 7%, but that widens to 22% after women and men have had at least one child.