Women employers 4 times lower than men globally: ILO

Women working as employers across the globe are far bellow than their male counterparts, according to a recent study. 

The women appear to be four times lower than men who are working globally as employers, the study has found.  

The study, which was released on Wednesday, revealed that female employers account for only 1.7 per cent of total female employment in 2018, compared to 4 per cent among men.

International Labour Organisation conducted the study and released in Geneva on Wednesday to mark International Women's Day.

Titled  “World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends for Women 2018 - Global snapshot” the study also said that even in developed countries working women continue to face labour market barriers when  it comes to accessing business and management positions.

 “Although women today are more strongly represented in middle and senior management positions compared to two decades ago, very few are appointed to the top jobs, especially in large companies,” reads the study.

 It said that according to the latest available estimates, women account for less than one-third of senior and middle management positions in the majority of developed countries, and represent less than 5 per cent of chief executive officers (CEOs) of publicly listed companies.

ILO deputy director-general for policy, Deborah Greenfield said that despite the progress achieved and the commitments made to further improvement, women’s prospects in the world of work are still a long way from being equal to men’s.

“Whether it is about access to employment, wage inequality or other forms of discrimination, we need to do more to reverse this persistent, unacceptable trend by putting in place policies tailored to women, also taking into account the unequal demands that they face in household and care responsibilities,” she said.

The report also said that the global women’s labour force participation rate - at 48.5 per cent in 2018 - is still 26.5 percentage points below the rate of their male counterparts and the global unemployment rate of women for 2018 - at 6 per cent - is approximately 0.8 percentage points higher than the rate for men.

“Altogether, this means that for every ten men in a job, only 6 women are in employment,” reads the report.

It also said that women face significant gaps in the quality of the employment they are in.

“For instance, compared to men, women are still more than twice as likely to be contributing family workers. This means that they contribute to a market-oriented family business, but are often subject to vulnerable conditions of employment without written contracts, respect for labour legislation and collective agreements,” reads the report.