Now here’s what you don’t want to see first thing on a Monday morning at the start of another working week.
According to new research by ActionAid, women around the world are working an average four years longer than men during their lifetimes – largely due to taking on the bulk of the housework, and caring responsibilities.
It finds after analyzing the total amount of both paid and unpaid work undertaken by men and women, that a young woman entering the job market today can expect to work the equivalent of four years more than her male counterparts.
The four year figure was determined by ActionAid in its new Not Ready Still Waiting report, showcasing just how far governments all over the world have to go to meet their 2030 gender equality goals, one years since they promised to tackle such inequality with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
ActionAid finds that just three in ten developing countries have over 65% of the key inequality-reducing policies in place need to meet such goals, while countries are not doing enough internally, nor externally to support the developing world.
The problem for women globally is income inequality – not just in gender pay gaps that are prevalent (at varying rates) all over the world, but also the large gap between the hours men and women spend doing unpaid work, including household chores and caring.
As for Australia, although we ranked second in the 2015 UN Human Development Index, and have laws protecting against gender discrimination, we’ve still got serious work to do.
The report notes that the unequal distribution of wealth is particularly affecting women in Australia, that the gender gap has worsened since 2004, and that major inequalities in retirement savings exist.
It also calls out the disproportionate number of men in power, with just 34% of parliamentarians being female and 24% of the current government.
Most disturbingly, it notes that Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have “shockingly” different health outcomes to the rest of the population, including an almost ten year life expectancy deficit, and the fact they’re 35 times more likely to be hospitalized and 5 times more likely to be the victims of homicide.
Meanwhile, Australia has so far failed to endorse the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which aims to ensure companies effectively prevent and deal with the possible negative effects that business can have on human rights in developing countries.
Not such great news for a Monday morning, but a good reminder of just how much work there is to do on tackling gender inequality.
