I first learned about the inequality women continue to face in today’s world in a human rights class in college over 10 years ago. I remember reading Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn (would recommend!) and learning about how we can fight the oppression of women and girls all over the world. My biggest takeaway that still sticks with me to today is that when you invest in women, women invest that money back into their families and communities. Research has shown over and over again, that investing in women has a multiplier effect with benefits shared by everyone. Fast forward to now, and while there does seem to be evidence pointing to society trending in the right direction, there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done.
With the gender wealth gap at 32 cents on the dollar, there are more and more services geared towards helping society close this widening gap. For example, the online investing platform Ellevest was built specifically for women, their mission being to help women build up their net-wealth. From Good Capital’s perspective as a wealth manager, gender lens investing has been recently taking off and it’s about time. Gender lens investing is a strategy of investing that involves earning a financial return alongside addressing gender disparities. Research shows that gender diverse companies tend to have better returns and lower risk at the same time.
Here are some of the factors that are considered in gender lens investing:
Representation in leadership (board members, senior management teams) and among employees
Pay equity - reducing the gender pay gap at all levels of a company
Policies promoting gender equality such as paid parental leave, flexible work options, employee protections, recruitment strategies, promotions and career development opportunities
These investments are designed to help women achieve equality while also offering a financial return. According to the World Economic Forum, gender parity will not be attained for another 99.5 years. Achieving gender parity has huge implications for the future of our economy and society. The World Bank found that “the loss in human capital wealth due to gender inequality is estimated at $160.2 trillion if we simply assume that women would earn as much as men. This is about twice the value of GDP globally.” Despite the fact that it’s simply the right thing to do, there’s so much in it for all of us to fight the oppression of women and girls worldwide.
Be sure to check out As You Sow to learn more about gender lens investing and to check to see how the funds you’re invested in stack up in terms of gender equity.