Women represent an increasing share of the world’s labour force – over a third in all regions except Southern and Western Asia and Northern Africa. However women remain at a disadvantage in securing paid jobs.

Wage differentials, occupational segregation, higher unemployment rates and their disproportionate representation in the informal and subsistence sectors limit women’s economic advancement. Sociocultural attitudes, employment policies and a lack of options for balancing work and family responsibilities or for controlling the timing and spacing of births contribute further to inequality in the labour market.