There is an old saying that you can judge a society by the way it treats its women. In the last several decades many world organizations have signed on to that belief — making improvements in the status of women among their highest priorities. The World Bank's Millennium Development Goals put it broadly: "Goal Number 3: Promote gender equality and empower women." UNIFEM, the United Nation's Development Fund for Women lays out the road to progress in greater detail:
> Women's share of seats in legislative bodies should reach 50%
> The ratio between girls' and boys' school enrollment rates should be one to one
> Average female weekly earnings as percentage of male weekly earnings should equal 100%
> Women's share of paid employment in the non-agricultural sector should be expanded
> Men and women should spend an equal number of hours on unpaid housework
Political power, education, type of work — all these factors have an influence on women's economic power.
A few years ago musician and artist Laurie Anderson sang "You know, for every dollar a man makes a woman makes 63 cents. Now, fifty years ago that was 62 cents. So, with that kind of luck, it'll be the year 3,888 before we make a buck." Of course, she was referring to American women and American wages. The good news is that the AFL-CIO reports that women's wages relative to men's for comparable work now stand at 75 cents for every dollar as of 2002. Of course, wages in much of the developing world have further to go to reach parity. See how men's wages in manufacturing stack up against women's around the world.
> Women's share of seats in legislative bodies should reach 50%
> The ratio between girls' and boys' school enrollment rates should be one to one
> Average female weekly earnings as percentage of male weekly earnings should equal 100%
> Women's share of paid employment in the non-agricultural sector should be expanded
> Men and women should spend an equal number of hours on unpaid housework
Political power, education, type of work — all these factors have an influence on women's economic power.
A few years ago musician and artist Laurie Anderson sang "You know, for every dollar a man makes a woman makes 63 cents. Now, fifty years ago that was 62 cents. So, with that kind of luck, it'll be the year 3,888 before we make a buck." Of course, she was referring to American women and American wages. The good news is that the AFL-CIO reports that women's wages relative to men's for comparable work now stand at 75 cents for every dollar as of 2002. Of course, wages in much of the developing world have further to go to reach parity. See how men's wages in manufacturing stack up against women's around the world.
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