The gender wage gap represents the biggest obstacle to eradicating poverty

By Dr Helen Szoke, Oxfam  Australia’s Chief Executive

In a village near Faizabad in India, 32-year-old mother of three, Manju  Tiwari, works hard as a farmer, growing a wide variety of produce, including  sugar cane, rice, wheat and potatoes.

“Women do the majority of the work.  We do domestic work and we also  work in the field.  We do everything but our work is not recognised,” she  says.

This is an issue right across the world, in rich and poor countries  alike.

For all the progress we’ve made in areas such as access to education, the  under-valued work of women is still pervasive – along with great disparity in  employment, wages and political participation – and a hindrance to truly  inclusive economic growth that benefits everyone.

Oxfam’s report out today, The G20 and gender  equality – How the G20 can advance women’s rights in employment, social  protection and fiscal policies, shows just how big an issue this  is.

It includes the startling fact that on the current rate of global  progress, it will take 75 years for women to be paid the same as men for equal  work.

Across G20 countries and beyond, women are paid less than men, do most of the  unpaid labour, are over-represented in part-time work and discriminated against  in the household, markets and institutions.         Read More