https://arab.news/86wth
In 2012, facing a shrinking labor force and economic stagnation, then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bet on women. To encourage more women to work, his government rolled out a series of reforms, including expanded childcare, enhanced parental leave and tax incentives for firms that promoted women. By 2019, 2.5 million additional women were employed, female labor force participation reached 67 percent and job placement for graduates was nearly universal. The conclusion is straightforward: When barriers to women’s workforce participation are removed, economic outcomes improve.
Today, developing economies face the opposite challenge: a massive youth bulge. Over the next 10 to 15 years, 1.2 billion young people will enter the labor market in these economies, which are expected to generate only about 400 million jobs over that period, implying an unprecedented jobs deficit.
Ensuring that young women — roughly half of this bulge — have the same opportunities as men to participate fully in the economy will be crucial to turbocharging growth and employment. As more women join the workforce on equal terms, they will increasingly start businesses and create jobs. Research shows that, in most countries, closing the opportunity gap could boost gross domestic product by as much as 20 percent.
