Women in labour markets: Measuring progress and identifying challenges

This report uses labour market indicators to measure progress or lack of progress towards the goal of gender equality in the world of work and identify where and why blockages to labour market equity continue to exist.

The report focuses on the relationship of women to labour markets and compares employment outcomes for men and women to the best degree possible, given the latest available labour market indicators from the ILO Key Indicators of the Labour Market. The main findings highlight a continuing gender disparity in terms of both opportunities and quality of employment. There have certainly been areas of improvement particularly in raising female participation but, in general, the circumstances of female employment – the sectors where women work, the types of work they do, the relationship of women to the job, the wages they receive – bring fewer gains to women than are brought to the typical working male.