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Gender Inequality and its Consequences Around the World By Ana Paola Pérez Macías Gender equality. ¿What is it? We hear about it all the time but many of us are not sure about what it is. According to Peace Corps, gender equality is the equal power and opportunities for both men and women, or all genders in that matter. It seems logical that it is a human right, and it is, but in many occasions it is not respected the way it should be. It is a well-known fact that globally women have fewer opportunities for either jobs, political positions, opportunities to improve their lifestyle, less access to eduction, and higher health and safety risks. Although many countries claim to be gender equal, there are still many cases of gender inequality. Gender inequality doesn’t only affect women, it can also affect people of different sexualities and even men. The United Nations recognizes 193 countries around the world, and 155 of them count with gender equality laws. This laws were supposedly established to protect and help women facing discrimination for being the gender they are. But this countries always put restrictions in different situations, one example being the job position. Gender inequality around the world affects in many different fields, some of this being economics, politics, population growth and world hunger. Despite the fact that some of this topics may not seem related to each other to the slightest degree, they are more related than one could imagine. In this essay we will discuss this subject.

Economics It is a well known fact that women get payed less than men. According to a popular website, that actually is centered around gender equality, called Girlboss claims that the women’s earnings as a percentage of white men is around 68%, but it varies depending on the women’s ethnicity. While women can be affected by the economics, the economy is also affected by women and gender inequality on the whole. A UN report released in 2014 has found that progress made towards reducing poverty is at risk of being reversed because of widening inequality and a failure to strengthen women's rights. It is rather amusing how gender inequality can affect population in that big of a ratio. A recent study made by McKinsey states that gender equality would boost the world’s economy by about 12 trillion dollars. The report suggests that the global economy is currently missing out on trillions of dollars, as women, who currently account for only 37 per cent of total global economic output, could add a quarter to today's global production figures, by participating equally with men. In addition to this topic, there is a survey made by Universum which states that Malaysia is the country with the narrowest gap, with Sweden and Canada on the 2nd and 3rd place. Gender discrimination is also a major impediment to growth as it prevents countries from reaching their maximum productivity potential. Although women constitute 40% of the global work force, there are still many who are unpaid family workers in the informal sector. Those who do work are generally paid much below that of male workers, despite being equally capable and skilled. Furthermore, their status and promotion is limited to middle or below ranks, they are laid off pre-retirement age more frequently than men, they have limited educational opportunity, and they typically run smaller farms and less profitable enterprises. Due to

these obvious restrictions, many countries experience loss of productivity that amounts to 25% due to gender discrimination.

Politics Politics are probably the ones affected the most by gender inequality. Everyday there are manifestations and strikes outside the different government palaces around the world, seeking for equality. It is hard to believe that only a hundred years ago women were able to vote, but it is even harder to believe in 2015 women in Saudi Arabia were finally able to exert their vote. While nowadays every women is free to vote, their participation in political representation across the globe is minimal, being only less than 30%. Despite the increasing presence of women in American politics, gender stereotypes still exist. Data from the 2006 American National Election Studies Pilot Study confirmed that both male and female voters, regardless of their political persuasions, expected men to perform better as politicians than women. The only deviation in this data had to do with competency in areas such as education that are typically perceived as women’s domains and voters, therefore, trusted women politicians more. Sadly, this numbers are quite difficult to raise since we still live in a male-dominated world. Many people of different nations, religions and sexual orientations are blinded by sexism, making it hard for female representatives to achieve power. Gender inequality is a big chain of problems. It starts with the minimal representation of women in power, which leads to less countries having gender equality laws. A consequence of this act is the wage gap which, as seen in the previous statement, leads to less women getting Jobs. This means that, if the woman has any children, the absence of money leads to hunger and obviously, poverty. Almost half of the world population lives in less tan $2.50 a day, and 80% lives in countries where income differentials are widening.

Population growth ir families and pull themselves out of poverty. In the United States, the median annual pay of full-time, year-round female workers is more than $10,000 less than the pay of male workers. Working single mothers are twice as likely as men to hold low-wage and/or part-time jobs with few or no benefits. Working mothers with children under 18 report that the gender pay gap contributes to poor living conditions, poor nutrition, and fewer opportunities for It seems that people think it’s obvious that women are the ones guilty of population growth, but nobody blames men for raping, sexual violence or forced pregnancies. For many years, women population was bigger than male population. A lot of cultural changes have affected this statistics. Femicides, illegal and unsafe abortions, genital mutilations, are all factors that alter the statistics. Also, male population has been growing in countries like China. Sex-selective abortion is yet another major disaster of gender inequality as it fuels human trafficking, demographic imbalance, and

sexual exploitation. India and China, the two most populated nations on Earth, both informally maintain this practice of preference for male child birth over female. Females are undervalued in Chinese society, and under one child policy, families opt for boys over girls. Education is also a huge factor in population growth, that is why people in poverty situations reproduce the most. Most women living in poverty conditions don’t have access to education, this actively illustrates that they are not informed with the knowledge about contraception. Also religion and different ideologies affects this, since some women aren’t allowed by their church, or even husbands, to use contraceptives. A survey made by the National Health Statistics Reports claims that only 62% of women use contraceptives. The abscence of jobs and the wage gap, affect the economy of many families, especially for single mothers. With less income, less food, this causes malnutrition and raises the levels of hunger globally.

World Hunger Also, letting women participate more in economy , Giving women the same tools and resources as men, including financial services, education and access to markets, could increase agricultural production in developing countries by 2.5% to 4%, it said in a report released on Monday . This could in turn reduce the number of hungry people by 12% to 17%, or by 100 to 150 million people.Adding on to the chain of consequences caused by gender inequality, world hunger is a major world problem. A new analysis by Bread for the World Institute shows that gender inequality plays a significant role in hunger and poverty, both in the U.S. and globally. The Institute analyzes the obstacles women face in trying to feed their families and pull themselves out of poverty. In the United States, the median annual pay of full-time, year-round female workers is more than $10,000 less than the pay of male workers. Working single mothers are twice as likely as men to hold low-wage and/or part-time jobs with few or no benefits. Working mothers with children under 18 report that the gender pay gap contributes to poor living conditions, poor nutrition, and fewer opportunities for their children.

To sum up everything that has been stated, we can affirm that gender equality could make great changes in our society, globally speaking. Not only could this changes augment world economy, but it could also improve people’s lifestyle and life expectancy. Gender equality should not be a privilege but a reality, and the fact according to the UN equality will be achieved as far as 80 years from now is sad. Us, as a society, can do nothing but respect and treat everyone, not only women, the same.

Sources https://www.peacecorps.gov/educators/resources/global-issues-gender-equality-andwomens-empowerment/

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