Women have a harder time accessing work globally than previously thought, while the gender gap in working conditions and pay has barely budged in two decades, the United Nations said on Monday, just two days before International Women's Day.
The findings, announced by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), are based on a new statistical approach to unemployment figures.
The new indicator developed by the ILO is called the Jobs Gap. It takes account of all persons without employment who are interested in finding work.
The revised figures paint a much bleaker picture of the situation of women in the world of work, compared to the more commonly used unemployment rate.
The new data shows that women still have a much harder time than men in finding a job.
According to the latest ILO figures, 15 percent of working-age women globally would like to work, but do not have a job, compared to 10.5 percent of men.
The jobs gap is particularly severe in developing countries where the proportion of women unable to find a job reaches 25 percent in some low-income countries.
"This gender gap has remained almost unchanged for two decades," the report says.
By contrast, official unemployment rates for women and men are very similar.
Women excluded disproportionately
This, the ILO says, is because the criteria used to determine if someone is officially unemployed tend to disproportionately exclude women.
The organisation points out that personal and family responsibilities, including unpaid care work, disproportionately affect women.
Such activities, it says, not only often prevent women from working, but also from actively searching for employment or being available to work on short notice, which are criteria for being considered unemployed.
The UN labour organisation found that the jobs gap was particularly severe in low-income countries, where nearly a quarter of women are unable to find a job.
For men, the corresponding rate was below 17 percent, the ILO said.
Gender pay gap remains vast
Access to employment is not the only problem.
The ILO adds that women tend to be overrepresented in certain types of vulnerable jobs, including helping out in relatives' businesses rather than working on their own account.
"This vulnerability, together with lower employment rates, takes a toll on women's earnings," the ILO says.
"Globally, for each dollar of labour income men earn, women earned only 51 cents."
The pay gap meanwhile varies widely between regions, with the figure dropping to 33 cents in low-income countries, but reaching 58 cents in high-income countries.
"This striking disparity in earnings is driven by both women's lower employment level, as well as their lower average earnings when they are employed," the UN body concludes.
