Equality and Security
Policies to promote workplace equality
Definition
Implemented and enforced laws and policies that prevent discrimination in the workplace (e.g., in hiring, pay, advancement, and firing); ban sexual harassment; and provide protection and support for parents (e.g., parental leave, adequate maternity/paternity benefits)
© Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation | John Healey | Kabamba Rural Health Center in Serenje District, Zambia | 2018
How policies to promote workplace equality support women's economic empowerment
Access to income and assets
Legislation supporting gender equality in the workplace increases women’s labor force participation
Fair play: More equal laws boost female labor force participation
A study of nearly 100 countries found that in half of the countries where employment equity laws were passed, labor force participation increased by at least 5 percentage points over the following five years; the median gender gap in workforce participation is 15 percentage points lower in countries without legal restrictions on women in the workplace.
Gonzales et al. | 2015
The price of prejudice: Labor market discrimination on the grounds of gender and ethnicity
A study of OECD employment statistics found that at least 10 percent of the reduction in the workforce participation gender gap in OECD countries over the past thirty years could be attributed to a decline in gender-based discrimination.
OECD | 2008