Cutting Gender Pay Gap Could Boost OECD Economies by $6 Trillion

(Bloomberg) -- Paying women less than their male counterparts could be hampering growth in the world's major economies by trillions of dollars.

Reducing the gender pay gap across Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development nations to match that of Sweden could boost gross domestic product by $6 trillion, according to new research by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The gains would come from increased female participation in the labor market, entrepreneurship and women moving into higher-paid and skilled jobs.

Korea has the biggest disparity in pay between the genders with a gap of 37 percent, compared to an OECD average of 16 percent, PwC said. In Sweden, the difference is 13 percent, although Luxembourg has the greatest wage equality with a gap of just 4 percent.

In the U.K., where firms have just over a month to comply with a new law requiring them to report the difference between the compensation of their male and female employees, the economic boost could be 180 billion pounds ($250 billion).

For more on the gender pay gap in the U.K., click here

PwC said the pay gap could be reduced through greater flexibility for working women as well as higher government spending on family benefits to encourage mothers to return to work, and measures such as shared parental leave. It also found that countries with a higher level of female employers tend to have a smaller level of disparity.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lucy Meakin in London at lmeakin1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Gordon at pgordon6@bloomberg.net, Brian Swint, Kevin Costelloe

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