A new report from the World Economic Forum has some grim economic news for the women of the world - at the current rate of change, women will have to wait another 257 years until equal pay can be considered a reality.
According to the Global Gender Gap Report published on Tuesday, the gender gap in economic opportunity and participation in the global economy won't close until 2277 - about fifty years longer than last year's estimate of 2222.
The yearly report analyzes 153 counties in their progress toward gender parity and focuses on four themes: economic participation, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.
"This year's report highlights the growing urgency for action," the report said. "At the present rate of change, it will take nearly a century to achieve parity, a timeline we simply cannot accept in today's globalized world, especially among younger generations who hold increasingly progressive views of gender equality."
For the eleventh year in a row, Iceland was ranked as the most gender-equal country in the world with lawmakers there working to achieve gender parity through legislation like laws that make it illegal for women to make less money than men in 2018.
Norway, Finland and Sweden rounded out the rest of the top four countries for women. The report noted the least equal countries in the world were Iraq and Yemen.
The United States dropped two spots from last year, currently hovering at #53 out of the 153 countries surveyed. While American women are highly-educated and relatively well-represented in middle and high management roles, American women still struggle to enter the top business positions such as CEO and are under-represented in political leadership roles.
The report highlighted data that showed women's economic participation and opportunity regressed this years, with "only a handful of countries" even approaching equality. Data collected by the forum showed the world needs another 257 years to achieve it in all 153 countries.
Data also showed that on average, just over half of all adult women are in the labor market as compared to 78% of men.
However, there are several bright spots in achieving gender parity, with the authors highlighting the mechanisms and pathways for accelerated change becoming more efficient and evident in countries around the world. In fact, two of the four themes have shown progress over the years, with 35 countries achieving gender equality in educational attainment and all 153 countries expected to achieve that goal within the next 12 years.
"Companies must treat people with dignity and respect and offer equal opportunities to all members of the society, leveraging gender diversity and investing in all of their talent through ongoing upskilling and reskilling," the authors wrote. "Governments must create policies that provide talent development, integration and deployment opportunities for all genders, diversify the leadership pool and provide support to families and caregivers, in both youthful and ageing societies alike."
The health and survival statistics for women are also improving rapidly, with 48 of the countries surveyed achieving near-full equality.
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