Story Highlights

• The United States ranks 53rd out of 153 countries in gender equality.
• Globally, 78% of adult men are in the labor force, compared to 55% of adult women.
• In 85 of the countries covered by the report, there has never been a female head of state.

World Cup champion Megan Rapinoe has vowed to fight for equal pay until she’s “in the grave.” But according to a new report this week, we’ll all be in the grave before women earn the same amount as men do.

At current rates of change, the global gender pay gap will close in 257 years, according to the World Economic Forum. That’s even worse than last year, when the organization estimated it would take 202 years to close the gap.

“None of us will see gender parity in our lifetimes, and nor likely will many of our children,” the researchers wrote.

The annual Global Gender Gap Report, which launched in 2006, measures gender equality in 153 countries across four categories: economic participation, educational attainment, health and political empowerment. While the global education and health gaps have nearly closed — just 12 years left to go for the education gap — large disparities remain in the economic and political spheres.

Iceland topped the charts as the most gender-equal country in the world for the 11th time in a row, the report said, tailed by Norway, Finland, Sweden and Nicaragua.

The United States fell two spots from last year’s gender equality, coming in at 53rd out of 153 countries. The country’s “standstill” is due to a lack of progress toward equal wages and income, the report says.

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How are women doing economically?

Women earn less than men do, and it’s getting worse, the report says. That’s because women have been hit by a “triple whammy,” the report says. 

Women are highly represented in many jobs that have been replaced by automation, are under-represented in emerging technology roles, and shoulder a disproportionate amount of child and sick care work.

“There’s a lack of affordable access to child care or sick care for elderly family members. It makes it more difficult for women to participate in the labor market,” said Chandra Childers, study director at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

While about 78% of adult men are in the labor force, only 55% of adult women are in the labor force, the report says.

Globally, women’s wages are about 58% of men’s wages for similar work, according to a WEF questionnaire of business leaders. Taking into account education level, age, full-time versus part-time, and private versus public sector employment, women’s wages are three quarters of men’s wages, according to International Labour Organization data cited in the report.

The global income disparity is even greater than the wage disparity: Women bring in an average annual income of $11,500, versus $21,500 for a man, the report says.

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Women also hold fewer positions of power in the economic sphere. Globally, 36% of all senior private sector managers and public sector officials are women, and 18% of firms are led by women. In 72 of the countries included in the report, some women do not have the right to open a bank account or obtain credit.

Women had the most economic opportunities in Benin, Iceland, Laos, Bahamas and Belarus; there were the fewest opportunities in India, Pakistan, Yemen, Syria and Iraq. the report says.

Women shout slogans during a protest during the International Women's Day in Madrid, Thursday, March 8, 2018. (Photo: Francisco Seco, AP)

US ranks 26th in economic opportunity 

The U.S. ranked 26th in economic opportunity, down from third place in 2006.

Women make 82 cents for every dollar paid to men, according to Census Bureau data on the median annual pay for workers who hold full-time, year-round jobs. (That figure does not adjust for such factors as the degrees and jobs women pursue, but you can compare differences in pay by occupation here.) Of U.S. workers with a bachelor’s degree, women earn 74 cents for every dollar men make.

“We can see differences across different occupations. Women only earn 71% of men’s earnings in retail sales persons. But there are other occupations that do pretty well. Registered nurses make 91% of men’s earnings,” Childers said. “Where we really see that gap widening is in higher-paying occupations.”

Among the boards of listed companies in the U.S., women make up about 1 in 5 board members, the report says. “Despite being relatively well represented in middle and high management roles, American women still struggle to enter the very top business positions,” the report says.

The pay gap also widens among minority workers.

“We talk about that gap — that’s referring to all women compared to all men — but we know black and Hispanic women, their earnings are significantly lower and contribute to that wage gap,” Childers said. “They do also tend to earn less within the same occupation.”

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The report suggests that policies such as corporate child care and paid parental leave are likely to have a significant impact on women’s career opportunities, as well as policies that incentivize women to purse STEM fields. Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren and former candidate Kamala Harris included some of these policies in plans dedicated to closing the gender pay gap.

How are women doing politically?

The largest gender gap exists in the political sphere, where just a quarter of the global gap has been closed thus far.

Of all the parliamentary seats worldwide, women occupy just 1 in 4, and, in two countries, women hold no seats at all. A smaller percentage of women serve as ministers, worldwide.

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In 85 of the countries covered by the report, there has never been a female head of state, including in Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden and the U.S.

Unlike women’s economic participation, however, women’s political empowerment is improving, and the past year has witnessed the greatest global improvement since 2006. In Latvia, Spain and Thailand, the number of women in parliament increased substantially.

The U.S. ranked 86th in political equality, its lowest score among the four categories.

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