IWD - Building an Inclusive Economy

International Women’s Day gave me an opportunity to reflect on what I can do to create a more inclusive economy and in particular how can I encourage more of my peers to be focused on women owned businesses in their supply chain.

I have leveraged this information from our partners at Weconnect International, below are some of the most important statistics available on women in the economy:

• The average woman spends more than twice as much time on unpaid work as her male counterparts.
• In developing regions, 1 in 3 women is excluded in economic decision making within their households. Furthermore, elderly women and single mothers are much more likely to be impoverished worldwide.
• Globally, the average woman only makes between 76 cents for every dollar made by a man.
• While over 81% of working-age men are employed in the formal sector, this advantage is only true for 54% of women in this age group.
• Implementing full economic gender parity could add $526 billion to the GDP of Japan and more than $1.2 trillion to that of the United States. Furthermore, it would likely add $2.5 trillion to China’s GDP by 2020.
• Women account for over $20 trillion in consumer spending per year and are involved in 80 percent of purchasing decisions worldwide.

So, aside from it being the right thing to do, it makes economic sense to build an economy that is representative of our community.

I know at Microsoft in Australia we are committed to buying from women owned businesses, as well as other underrepresented groups in our economy, because when these businesses are provided an opportunity to work with Microsoft, they win the work on merit and they keep the work because of performance.

Thank you to all the Women owned businesses in our supply chain and all of the partners and intermediaries that are helping to build a more inclusive economy.

For my peers feel free to directly message me or connect with WeConnect International if you want to have an impact and drive change