The IMF wants to incorporate women to work to relaunch the economy – Yancuic News and Advertising Agency

London. – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) commitment to incorporate more women into the European labor market to combat economic stagnation. In a report released Monday, the eve of International Women’s Day, the body chaired by Christine Lagarde affects the two main belts through which more women in the labor market and, especially, in positions direction, would be felt in the form of substantial improvement in the continental economy: the increase in total labor supply and improved business results

Although the Fund recognizes the “significant progress” registered. recent decades, also stresses that the process of closing the gender gap “is losing momentum despite increased equity investment in human capital, the decline in birth rates, changes in social norms and legal equality in access to employment opportunities. ” It is not the first time the IMF advocates increasing presence of women in the workplace, but it is a fresh approach in an institution that used to diagnose a variety of recipes practically standards to improve the economic performance of countries that pass, almost always, by two mantras. structural reforms and easing labor market

the IMF staff they endorse the latest OECD figures, a sort of think tank in developed countries, according to which if the gender gap suturase completely, the Old Continent GDP would grow an additional 12% over the next 15 years. Moreover, since according to its own calculations, if female participation in the labor market should be placed in the same level as the male and the difference between the average number of hours worked both genders was left to the zero, the European workforce repuntaría 15% .

the current challenge, affects the organization based in Washington, is that the female participation rate continues to rise despite being already at historic highs. And for this, it is inevitable that policies are aligned with this goal. “In the case of European women, the decision to work or not to work is not only a personal decision: policies also matter,” he says. In this regard, the IMF claims two incentives for women to continue to be integrated into the labor market: an increase in public provision for kindergartens and better tax treatment for taxpayers seconds per household, mostly women. The Fund also stresses the need to commit to full-time contracts to the detriment of formulas part-time, particularly widespread in the Nordic countries.

More women managers to improve economic performance

for the impact on the economy is complete, the Fund puts the focus on the number of women on boards of directors or management positions in large companies. “To the extent that greater participation of women in senior positions improves the profitability of the company, could also support investment and overall productivity, thus mitigating the slowdown in European growth potential,” reads the document. This conclusion is consistent with the recent report of the prestigious Peterson Institute US on the issue, stressing that companies with more women in charge are more profitable than those where men are monopolizing the bulk of managerial positions.

Since 2003, when Norway adopted the first European quota law which established that 40% of seats on the board of directors of listed companies should be occupied by women, many Europeans among them Germany, France, Italy and countries Spain, have opted for similar formulas that yield different results. “Generally speaking, these rules have helped increase the percentage of women on boards of directors of listed companies, but most European countries is still far from gender parity in leadership positions,” they said technicians

background. According to their figures, only 12% of management positions in the 620 largest listed companies on the continent are women. This figure rises to 18% in the case of seats on the board. By extending this sample to two million companies based in 34 European countries, contrary to what could be intuited, the percentage of women on the total number of directors or executives shooting up to 25%.

Fund staff said that the rate of female participation in the overall labor market is not a good predictor of the percentage of women in governing bodies of companies (in many eastern countries of the Union, for example, there are many women working but very few in leadership positions). They state a “significant” negative relationship between the percentage of women working part-time and the percentage of managerial positions féminas: more women working part-time, less executive and vice versa. “Countries that have achieved greater parity in senior management are also those where more women work full time,” he concludes.