Reducing barriers for women in the labour market
Steps to reduce barriers for women in the labour market, notably the reforms
recommended above, could raise GDP per capita growth considerably, offsetting the impact
of ageing on employment.
Full convergence by women to men in terms of labour market
participation and hours worked could result in a gain of GDP per capita of 20% when
convergence is complete, boosting GDP per capita growth by 0.4% annually if convergence is
achieved by 2060 . This estimate includes the impact higher female employment
and hours worked have on access to better-paid, more productive jobs, as well as the gains
in productivity that would result from more job experience. Most of these gains would reflect
women working longer hours. In a simulation exercise, Teignier and Cuberes (2014) have
estimated the potential impact of gender convergence on GDP per capita in Germany at 10%.
Their estimation does however not include the impact of higher female labour input on
investment which can be expected to raise the capital stock in the long-term. This effect
accounts for 7 percentage points of the estimated impact on GDP per capita.
EU Forecast
euf:ba18a:81/nws-01