of educational attainment tends to vary based Unemployment on a country’s income level. In many advanced economies individuals with basic education face Labour-force participation rates mask trends in a higher risk of unemployment, and this pattern is unemployment since the former counts both those particularly pronounced for women (Figure 2.4.a). working and those unemployed but actively looking Conversely, in low- and middle-income countries, for employment. individuals with advanced education are more susceptible to unemployment, with women again After the surge in unemployment due to disproportionately affected (Figure 2.4.b). pandemic lockdowns, both men’s and women’s unemployment rates have almost returned to pre- Further, women face greater dif昀椀culties in their pandemic levels (Figure 2.3). Historically, women search for employment. An individual is considered have consistently faced higher unemployment unemployed if they are actively looking for work rates than men, except for a short period in 2020 and are available to start a job within a short notice when the pandemic led to a peak in unemployment period, typically a week. However, this de昀椀nition for both genders (and slightly more so for men). assumes that men and women face similar Since then, the likelihood of women experiencing conditions in their job searches and are equally unemployment is again higher than for men, available to take up employment on short notice. To compounding the gender gap observed in labour- address these limitations, the ILO has introduced force participation: not only are fewer women the “jobs gap” measure, which encompasses participating in the labour market, but out of those all individuals who desire employment but are who are, relatively fewer are employed. According currently unemployed, including those actively to the latest data from the International Labour seeking employment and readily available to start Organization (ILO), the global unemployment rate work on short notice, those not actively searching stands at approximately 4.5% for women and 4.3% employment opportunities and not available for for men.6 immediate job placement, and those searching for employment but unable to join the workforce on Disparity in female and male unemployment is short notice. highest in the Middle East and North Africa region, where the parity ratio currently stands at 2.69, According to this ILO estimate, 12.3%, or 473 followed by Latin America and the Caribbean, with million people, fall into the jobs gap category. 1.51 parity, and Eurasia and Central Asia at 1.21. Women’s jobs gap rate of 15% is signi昀椀cantly higher 7 East Asia and the Paci昀椀c is the only region below than men’s jobs gap rate of 10.5%. Among both parity (1.0), meaning unemployment is lower for men and women actively seeking employment, female workers than for men. women are also signi昀椀cantly less likely to be readily 8 available to start work on short notice than men. Figure 2.4 further illustrates that unemployment Evidence suggests that these gaps persist due patterns for women tend to be an ampli昀椀ed version to both a lack of suitable job opportunities and of what is experienced by men. The likelihood of lack of access to existing opportunities, in turn unemployment among workers with different levels due to disproportionate care responsibilities and FIGURE 2.3 Gender gap in unemployment, 2013-2022 1.10 1.05 (0-1, parity) 1.00 Parity line Gender gap in unemployment 0.95 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Year Source World Economic Forum calculations based on ILO modeled estimates, 100 countries, constant sample. Global Gender Gap Report 2023 35