[DMR] 5 Ways We Can Promote Women’s Economic Empowerment Globally
https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/ways-to-promote-womens-economic-empowerment/
This article is very broad as it discusses economic gender equality on a global scale, but I found it eye-opening in identifying various underlying causes of structural gender inequality worldwide. I didn’t know that in some countries, women still need a male relative’s permission to open a bank account. Also, I didn’t know that “a 2% investment in child care in any economy generates 6% growth in the economy” (ahem hint hint United States cough cough) or “104 countries have at least one law impeding women’s economic opportunities”. The information in this article could be a good way to get students to think about structural (economic, legal) causes of gender inequality.
The featured image for this post comes from another article, “Unpaid Care Work: Everything You Need to Know“
Hi Zoya, thank you for sharing this DMR with us. Reading the 5 suggestions in the article, it reminded me of my experience working with my high school students. I remember one time a teacher asked a student what their mom’s profession is. The student replied “my mom doesn’t do anything” in a very negative tone. At that moment, I felt very shocked at my student’s reply because even though their mom is a stay-at-home mom, they still do a lot around the household. For many of my students, I don’t think they understand the amount of labor that goes into cooking, cleaning, and doing errands for the house.
In addition, the first suggestion, “ensure women are equipped to participate in the economy fully” reminds me of my internship last summer with the IRC. A lot of the women clients we had were from Afghanistan and they didn’t have a lot of work experience due to political laws that were in place. Because IRC emphasizes the idea of “contributing” back to society through work, many women didn’t know if they would be qualified for a job position due to their lack of experience. To combat this problem, the IRC would provide a lot of economic empowerment sessions so that the clients would feel more comfortable going into the workplace. They would provide resume and interview assistance to clients so that when clients go into job interviews, they feel prepared to answer any questions and highlight their experiences.
Zoya, thanks for sharing this resource! I agree that it would be a good one to use with students. It’s a very manageable length and has clear suggestions and reasoning. Like you mentioned in the post, this phrase stood out to me: “A 2% investment in child care in any economy generates 6% growth in the economy.” Even with the recent changes to the child tax credit in the U.S., many American families spend a large proportion of their income on child care. Subsidizing child care a little more or (let’s dream big) creating universal child care would really make a huge difference in women’s lives who are providing child care, either full or part time.