Thu Mar 06 22:54:00 UTC 2025: ## ILO Report Reveals Slow Progress on Gender Equality in Workplace

**Geneva, March 7, 2025** – A new International Labour Organization (ILO) report released on International Women’s Day reveals slow progress in achieving gender equality in the workplace. Despite some improvements over the past three decades, women are still significantly underrepresented in management and high-paying jobs globally.

The report, titled ‘Women and the Economy: 30 Years after the Beijing Declaration’, highlights that women hold only 30% of managerial positions worldwide, a modest increase from the past two decades. This disparity, coupled with a persistent gender pay gap and unequal distribution of unpaid care work, means achieving gender parity in employment rates could take over 190 years at the current pace.

Key findings include:

* **Employment Gap:** In 2024, only 46.4% of working-age women were employed, compared to 69.5% of men. This gap has narrowed by only 4 percentage points in over 30 years.
* **Wage Gap and Working Hours:** Women globally earn significantly less than men, work fewer paid hours, and are overrepresented in informal employment in low- and lower-middle-income countries. They work approximately six hours and 25 minutes less per week than men in paid employment.
* **Unpaid Care Work:** Women shoulder a disproportionate burden of unpaid care work, spending 3.2 times more hours than men. This unequal distribution keeps an estimated 708 million women out of the workforce.
* **Violence and Harassment:** Women are 1.6 times more likely to experience sexual violence and harassment at work than men, with young and migrant women facing higher risks.

Sukti Dasgupta, Director of the ILO Conditions of Work and Equality Department, emphasized the urgent need for reforms to address unequal care responsibilities, wage gaps, and workplace violence. She stressed that these issues continue to create unequal and unsafe workplaces for women. The report serves as a stark reminder of the significant challenges remaining in fulfilling the commitments made in the Beijing Declaration 30 years ago.

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