WOMENOMICS

In school it was home economics. When we graduated it was tough economics and once our careers developed it was more a case of world economics. However, in recent years, a new phenomenon has evolved with women clearly in mind — Womenomics.

FACT
Women contribute 40% of the developed world’s GDP

FACT
In the UK 80% of consumer goods decisions involve women. Women make up 63% of online shoppers who buy more than once a week and by 2025 women will represent 60% of the UK’s personal wealth. The US can also boost some interesting stats where the number of women earning over $100k+ has tripled in the last ten years and by 2010 women will acquire over 90% of the growth in private wealth!

FACT
At home, the number of women in paid employment has more than doubled since the early 1990s. In fact, 60 per cent of women aged between 15 and 64 years are now in employment, ahead of the EU average.

FACT
These all point to the fact that women have and will continue to contribute significantly to our economic growth.

In ‘Towards 2016’, the Government and the social partners recognise that employment is a major factor for helping people to move out of poverty and that it also influences quality of life and social wellbeing. A review of economic growth in Ireland over the past decade or so will show that much of that growth has been achieved through the significant increase in women’s labour market participation. The National Women’s Strategy 2007-2016 reflects a framework of objectives to push the advancement of women in Ireland. However some might feel it is lacking in measurable targets and timescales.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in an address to mark International Women’s Day last year, declared: “Without a doubt, women have contributed significantly to the achievements of our economy, and my Government and I are fully committed to their further advancement as key decision-makers in our society.”

President McAleese talked at length about the changing nature of our society and the opportunities for women as she addressed a Women in Business event. The President remarked: “The future of this island is a story in which the entrepreneur will play a leading, dynamic and pivotal role. Entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial imagination and risk-taking are the major drivers of our economy, our competitiveness and our economic growth... The global economy, once a sleeping giant, is now well awake and on the move. If ever there was a moment in time when women could come fully into their own then this is it. This is where ambition and opportunity have converged...’.
Although the term ‘Womenomics’ has been around for some years, it was The Economist back in 2006, which chose to focus on the untapped Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth to be had in closing the gender gap. “Arguably, women are now the most powerful engine of global growth,” The Economist observed. And proposed:‘Forget China, India and the internet; economic growth is driven by women”.

Read more about Womenomics in the April | May 2008 issue of WMB, on newsstands now.