The issue of work-life balance remains a significant challenge.
According to the ClosinGap Index decomposition, the largest gender gap exists in the Work-Life Balance category, leading to higher rates of inactivity and part-time work among women compared to men. With a gap in 2020 of 56%, it is the largest gap, but also the one that is closing at the fastest pace. If it continues at this rate, it will have disappeared in 20 years.
The impact on GDP of closing the gender gap in Spain
The report quantifies the economic impact of gender gaps, all of which directly or indirectly affect GDP through the labour market. Three crucial factors in employment disproportionately disadvantage women, impacting both the individuals and the economy at large: lower participation in the labour market, reduced working hours resulting from higher rates of part-time employment, and over-representation in less productive economic sectors. In total, if we were to close these three labour market gaps, Spanish GDP in 2019 could have been 18.5% higher than in the previous year.
The ClosinGap Index is the first indicator of its kind in Spain and will allow us for the first time to quantify and measure the opportunity cost of the gender gap in our country. The results are clear and show that we still have a long way to go to achieve an egalitarian society and thus eliminate all the obstacles that prevent us from fully including all female talent.