Women in the Global Economy

The global economy is not working for millions of working women around the world. The rules of the global economy make it possible for companies to chase the lowest wages and highest profits, regardless of the consequences for people and communities. Companies are turning to women—and girls—to cut their labor costs and increase their profits.

Today, women make 39 percent of the world's workforce, yet they account for 70 percent of the world’s population living in poverty.

Most women throughout the world are relegated to low-skilled, low-wage jobs. Their work often is dangerous. And women are likely to face additional threats on the job such as discrimination, sexual harassment, physical abuse and pregnancy exams as a condition of work.

Eighty percent of the nearly 50 million workers in export processing zones (EPZs) are women, most of them between the ages of 16 and 25. EPZs are tax-free industrial areas for foreign companies in which labor laws often are suspended and workers unprotected. In Mexico, women who work in the factories in the EPZs are subjected to numerous forms of violence, including murder.

Even in developed countries, such as the United States, women are working longer hours and making less than men, according to the AFL-CIO’s Ask a Working Woman survey.

Without rules to protect basic rights—such as the freedom of association and an end to discrimination and child labor—working women are denied the opportunity to feed their families and contribute to their communities. In 10 years, 80 percent of all women in industrialized countries and 70 percent of all women globally will work outside of the home. We need rules for the global economy that work for working families.

• Find out what to do if you are discriminated on the job because of your gender.
• See how the Solidarity Center advances women’s equality around the world.

Links to public and nonprofit websites addressing issues related to women in the global economy.