A gender role is a set of societal norms dictating what types of behaviours are generally considered acceptable, appropriate or desirable for a person based on their actual or perceived sex. Recent studies have shown; gender roles help the economy. According to a study done by McKinsey Global Institute, if women played an identical role as men in the workforce, it could boost the annual Global GDP by $28 trillion in 2025. Increasing women’s participation in the labor force could provide the biggest boost to the GDP, could reduce income inequality, close the gap between number of hours worked by men and women, shift women into higher productivity sectors and tackle poverty. Overall, all economies in the world stand to gain.

 

Personally, I feel that many people can not comprehend that achieving this $28 trillion in Global GDP is actually possible. It is so shocking that something so simple such as allowing women to reach their full economic potential could boost the economy so much. There simply is no reason now for countries to allow women not to reach their full economic potential as they simply have nothing to lose, absolutely everyone in this situation has something to gain. Although gender stereotypes are hard to break, but society as a whole must come together and realize that individual and women contributions are so valuable. Allowing women to have identical roles in the workplace is not only something which is morally correct, but also a huge economic benefit.

 

External Sources:

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/09/24/want-to-boost-global-growth-by-trillions-improve-gender-equality-mckinsey-report-says/