Gender gap costs Asians $89B in lost productivity
SHANGHAI—THE two billion women in Asia are still paid less than men for similar work and are extremely underrepresented in top leadership positions, according to a report that estimates limits on female employment cost the region $89 billion a year in lost productivity.
The Asia Society survey on women’s status in health, education, economic activity and political leadership urges improvements to ensure the region benefits fully from its underused pool of human talent.
While the status of women varies widely from country to country from one category to the next, overall, “to continue in this direction would put in peril Asia’s many achievements,” said the report, compiled by Astrid S. Tuminez, a professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore.
The report cited United Nations data in estimating the lost productivity for Asia at $89 billion a year because of limits on female employment.
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Overall, based on various measures— the report also uses data from The Economic Forum and other sources—the gender gap was narrowest and women’s leadership strongest in New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Mongolia.
The gap was widest in Pakistan, Nepal, India, South Korea and Cambodia.
“Some economies in Asia with the highest human development rankings also perform most poorly in some measures of women’s leadership,” it said, referring specifically to Japan and South Korea.
Asia leads the world in terms of the number of years women have governed as heads of state, and currently has four women leaders. But the report attributes that to dynastic traditions calling for women to take over from fathers, husbands or sons when they die, are imprisoned or killed.
It said the problem begins before birth, with sex-selective abortions and infanticide due to a preference for sons in countries such as China and India.
It said the bias in favor of sons means that girls in some countries receive poorer medical care, nutrition and education than boys, especially in developing countries.
Although women live longer in Asian nations as in other regions, such disadvantages affect health and earning power over a lifetime, the report noted.
“From the very start, girls in Asia face significant obstacles to fulfilling their human potential, in general, and their po- tential for leadership, in particular,” Asia Society President Vishakha N. Desai said in introducing the report.
Pay gaps remain significant, the report said, with the ratio of women’s pay to men’s lowest in South Korea, at 51 percent, below that of Nepal, Bangladesh and China. Japan’s was not much better, at 60 percent.
As far as women in senior corporate positions, Japan came in worst in the region with just five percent of those positions held by women.
Thailand and the Philippines ranked highest in this regard, with women holding 39 percent of senior level positions, while India came in at 14 percent and China 25 percent, it said, citing a survey by Grant Thornton International.