Oct 21, 2020, 11:29 AM ETInterview, Fireside Chat

Womenomics: Europe Moving Ahead

In recent years, the US female labor force participation ratio has stagnated after previous decades of gains.
Europe has closed the historical gap with the US, overtaking it in participation rates for women aged 30 to 59.
A primary driver of the European increase is women in their 50s and 60s remaining in the workforce longer than previous generations.
Generous parental leave policies and improvements in childcare availability, costs, and quality in Europe correlate strongly with higher participation rates.

Europe has significantly narrowed its gender pay gap in recent years, whereas the gap in the US has largely stagnated.
All major European countries maintain a smaller gender pay gap than the US, which is itself significantly smaller than Japan's gap.
Despite narrowing, the pay gap in most European countries remains between 12% and 18%.
Observable factors such as industry selection, role types, tenure, and work experience explain only 33% to 50% of the remaining pay gap.
A significant "glass ceiling" exists: the pay gap is near zero for women under 40 but widens drastically for those in their 40s, 50s, and 60s as they approach peak earning potential.

Female representation on boards of directors in Europe's Stock 600 companies rose from 9% in 2005 to approximately 31% recently.
This progress appears to have flattened in recent years, suggesting a targeted cap near the 30% mark driven by media, investor pressure, and quotas.
Progress at the management and executive levels has been significantly slower than at the board level.
There has been minimal movement in the number of female CEOs and CFOs over the last decade or two.

Companies in the top quartile for female representation on boards and as managers in Europe have achieved approximately 2.5% annual outperformance relative to their sector compared to those in the bottom quartile.

The full economic impact of the pandemic remains uncertain due to furlough and short-time work schemes that have largely insulated European jobs from immediate loss.
Negative impacts on women relative to men include increased childcare responsibilities during lockdowns and disproportionate job losses in hit service industries like travel, leisure, and retail.
Positive factors include higher stability in the public sector, where roughly two-thirds of employees are women and pay has risen even as private sector pay fell.
A broad shift toward flexible working arrangements and remote work is expected to benefit women, though the net long-term effect is still being realized.