The Special Report

Closing the gap

Women have made huge progress in the workplace, but still get lower pay and far fewer top jobs than men. Barbara Beck asks why, in the first article from our special report(62)

Looking ahead

Here's to the next half century

It’s taking a long time, but things are getting better for women. In health and education, most countries have largely closed the gap between the sexes; in politics, the gap is wide but progress rapid. But the most egregious gap between men and women is still in the world of work.

Women in China

The sky's the limit

Women make up 49% of China’s population and 46% of its labour force, a higher proportion than in many Western countries. China is generally reckoned to be more open to women than other East Asian countries, with Japan the worst. But there's still much to do

Female labour markets

The cashier and the carpenter

Men are still more likely than women to be in paid work, but the most vexing gap between the sexes is the continued disparity in earnings. In America the gap between wages has halved since 1970, from 40% to 20%; across the OECD the gap averages around 18%

Educating women

A world of bluestockings

Women are now more highly educated than men. Across rich countries the share of those aged over 25 who have had some form of higher education is now 33%, against 28% of men in the same age group. But they are still not getting the jobs to match

Work and family

Baby blues

Both as entrepreneurs and as employees, women still seem to be at a disadvantage. The most obvious explanation is that most of them have children. But across the world there are huge differences in the acceptance of maternity leave (and quality of child-care)

Top jobs

Too many suits

In America women last year made up less than 18% of senior managers and not even 8% of the highest earners. Among the Fortune 500 companies only about 15% of the most senior managers and only 3% of the CEOs were women. There are not nearly enough skirts in the boardroom