Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to equality within our lifetime how laws and policies can close widen gender gaps in economies worldwide. A webinar by new americas Better Life Lab well into the 21st century achieving equality in the economy remains business worldwide, womens employment, income and opportunities lag behind building and a one of a kind database that covers hundred and 93 countries. The book equality within our lifetimes systematically analyzes how far weve come and how we have to go to close these gaps. Its a powerful call to action. How gender equality is both feasible and urgently needed to address some of the greatest challenges of our generation. Moderating todays event with research Aleta Sprague and is Haley Swenson a researcher and writer who has been part of the Better Life Lab team for the last six years. She has a ph. D. And gender studies and her research focuses on the relationship between racial and gender equality at work and, at home. Her writing has been featured in the new york times. The washington and slate, as well as dozens of other outlets, along with schultz, she has pioneered the better Lab Experiments project, which puts Evidence Based advice for creating a Fair Division of labor at into the hands of families that need it. Please join me in everyone to the stage. Thank you so much, julia. Its such a pleasure to be here and to be here with not only a wonderful audience, but the two of the authors of the book will be discussing today. Alita and jody. I want to give a brief introduction them and then im going to kick things over to them. Actually, this is a very data rich text and i think visuals will really help the audience to wrap their heads around it and and grok where the arguments theyre making are coming from and what the Evidence Base is for it. So i want to them a chance to present on the book a bit. We dive into discussion after their presentation i will shift to a few. The book raised for me as a follower of these questions. And that said, i invite our audience to please enter your comments and your questions. The slides box as we go, and ill be getting kind of a live report, those questions and comments and, id love to bring them into our discussion. So if you have a question at some clarity, you just want to add something that stands out to you about the data or you have a provocative discussion question that that our authors take on. Please added their end and wed love for this discussion to be as engaging and interactive possible as by this fantastic software that were using here today. I want to introduce our authors of equality within lifetimes how laws and policies can close or widen gender gaps in economies worldwide. There are actually three authors on the book, but amy robb, due to some time issues, cannot join us today. But are very fortunate to have jody heymann and Aleta Sprague and joining us so jody is the founding of the World Policy Analysis Center at the ucla Fielding School of public health. Heineman leads largest independent effort to improve the level and quality of comparative policy Data Available to policymakers, researchers and the public. She is an elected member of the National Academy of sciences and has authored and edited more than 500 publications, including books and Aleta Sprague she is senior legal analyst for World Policy Analysis Center. Sprague is an attorney with over a decade of experience working on social policy and inequality. She has coauthored a range of publications examining how and policies shape racial, gender and socioeconomic disparities. So, jody, with that said, why dont kick us off and tell us about the book, your perspective. Thank you so much. Its a joy to be here with you and joy to here with everybody whos joining the audience. So we started this effort at a time when were saying it would take over hundred years to reach gender equality in the economy how could it possibly be that we thought as the global or as a country was acceptable, we being half the world behind half the World Without equal. Saying we needed centuries achieve it. And that huge economic loss. So the title equality within our lifetimes from a profound belief that it is possible we take the steps necessary. The biggest finding from the book is that these huge gaps we have in inequality link complete to lots that not to say that laws are the only driver certainly nor is attitudes, individual actions links all affect the inequality, but just as there we lag behind women, lag behind men on leadership, we dont have the same protection globally for equality in training or promotions, and thats just one of many examples. But i will share a few slides here first, because a picture is worth a thousand words. So if american can up the slides, okay, so as i mentioned, you know, women make up just about a third of senior managers, the Top Companies around the world. But just look at where the world is. This is percent of countries terms of protecting gender discrimination. Well, most of the world has some step on gender. And the biggest area is pay. The next biggest hiring. But when you go things that matter for in a workforce training, just over half of countries say you cant explicitly you cant discriminate in training. Less than two thirds even take that first step of putting in law that promotions cant be described or we all know implementing that has its own set additional challenges but the first step is making a commitment to it next slide these. The inequality in the workforce first has to do with discrimination, but it also has to do with an unequal responsibility for caring for everyone from kids to elders. Well get back to that the second and what countries can do about it. But a lot of times gender discrimination actually comes in the form of caregiving. And we know this as just one example because the big pay gap is not between men and women, that pay get gap exists, but the much bigger pay is what happens. Once a woman has a child or other caregiving responsibilities. So do we see when it comes to protecting from discrimination because your mom and amidst the pandemic overwhelmingly those had care responsibility lost more jobs and most all women of color caregiving responsibilities lost most jobs during the pandemic. The data shows us that nearly all countries have some kind of protection against, gender discrimination, but here to only about how protect against mothers being discriminated against in the workforce and importantly because men having equal roles at home is to everybody having roles the economy even fewer protect against fathers being discriminated at in the workforce against in the workforce and that becomes issue with things like uptake of paternity leave. Next slide please. Its crucial that all women be protected from discrimination for, all women to be protected. Most people have multiple aspects of their identity of who they are and different ways that they experience life, but also that they are discriminated against. This just that in some of those characteristics that people have those intersecting forms of potential discrimination or multiple forms of discrimination, then theres a lot of protection here. These are the numbers protecting for multiple. So are you protect it on religion and on gender fewer countries might actually protect the u. S. Well what we see for religion race or disability you should out of 193 countries, pretty widespread protection. But when you get towards the bottom, how many countries are protecting micro or women with different nationalities . Its than half. When you get Sexual Orientation and gender identity. Well, theres been real. Its the least of next slide. Please. Sexual harassment is another form of discrimination of gender discrimination. And so more than five years ago, we saw as the Metoo Movement went global increasing attention to that first step of do every does every country have a law prohibiting Sexual Harassment at work has to be achieved. The no prohibition this chart its 50 countries still have no at all against Sexual Harassment at work and the green the ones that from both supervisors and coworkers which becomes especially important for women as they advance in jobs because the restaurant they most commonly from coworkers later on thats only 32 countries that do go next please. Having the law there is the first step but we need to do more than have along. We need to make sure that companies actually take steps prevent to prevent sexual or other forms of discrimination and that someone who reports sexual cant be retaliate against. And what you see here is less than a third of countries have both those basic protections and i just want to pause minute before i go to caregiving to i know were presenting a lot of data its all freely so any events that we go by to fast if you go to World Policy Center talk thats our landing page of website, you can Download Link to the book, download for free. You can get policy briefs if you want it. If you want a 32nd map with the number, all of those are really a link there. So next slide please. Achieving equality in our lifetime takes you. Equality in the workforce is also takes equality at home and it takes the ability of people to balance caring with working. So one of the fundamental rights thats been recognized for a century paid leave for moms. So 120 countries around the world guaranteed at least 40 weeks,. 187 guarantees. Some paid leave for, those in the audience. Joining us, the United States. You can readily that one of the few countries and the only high income country without it is the united the only other countries without it are Papua New Guinea and five small South Pacific island states. Every other country paid maternity. Next slide please. In addition to pavement we if were going to achieve equality. Pape attorney labor has a huge role to play. So when fathers study after study shows when fathers are involved early in life in first year, not only is it to them, but it improves economic outcomes for their spouses, partners and it creates long term engagement in childrens lives. Theres been dramatic increase in paid paternity leave around the world, nearly tripling globe alley. It does remain to short the and thats part of inequality and thats why you see lot of red and orange on map is the number countries with short leave that been said the 45 countries that give men 14 weeks or more. Show the feasibility of next slide please. So one of the things that makes the biggest difference in dads uptake is having either leave reserved for dads or an incentive take it to really get over history of it being disproportion simply women 86 countries do it. Next slide please. People raise the costs of having paid leave and paid leave does cost money and yet the amount of money that is left on the table, the loss to our economy of not doing it is so greater, so that this just shows that we achieved gender equality in the u. S. Economy. We would be about increasing our gdp. By ¥4. 3 trillion with teeth dollars a year. Its a huge amount to left on the table money that we need for many of the challenges we face. Next slide, please. All right. This looks like a super busy slide. It looks kind of chaotic. But you really just need to pay attention. One thing, whats happening to that red line . Its going consistently. This is womens Labor Force Participation rankings of the oecd, of our high income country comparators in the always in 2000, we seventh in the most recent data the u. S. Ranked 28th. This is a result of not taking steps that need to taken around here globally. There changes that need to happen in the discrimination and sexual law, national elite. The biggest gaps are how weve fallen further and further behind its others have it. Other countries have on supporting care from infancy to old age. And ill stop there for now. Wow. That is a striking figure once you wrap your head around all the lines and you follow that red line that really, really tells us a lot about whats been happening in this country. While things have been changing for the better abroad. And i think thats really striking at this moment and almost three years into a pandemic, that feeling that we on the cusp of some big changes, people may recall the build back better and reconciliation package, which was, you know, i think there was a lot of enthusiasm around and it just didnt quite have the votes. And so here we are continuing on that on that decline, it would seem even as some recovering from the pandemic is happening, so, so many questions come up out of this. But i kind of want to take a step back just to start, i have a feeling some in our audience may not be feeling all this data quite as personally as others. Us, i will say i currently 37 weeks pregnant and im employed as a freelancer. So i, i dont have an employer to offer me paid leave. I dont live in one of the handful of states that is that has implemented a paid leave program. So all of hits really close to home for me and folks who signed on to this event may feel the same way, be drawn to this issue for similar kinds of reasons. But but see, theyre not. And they dont feel this quite as personally or folks are going to be sending link around to this book to. Friends and family who may not quite get it, who may say, you know, theres a of problems, a lot of forms of inequality in this. Why should we care . So about gender equality on a global level . Why is this an issue that we need to be thinking about major policy reforms to solve . Well, what would you say to those folks. So i can kick us off . I think thats a great question and really foundational question. You know, i think there are there are numerous to care, really, no matter where live, no matter where you fall in the political spectrum, whether or not this is really hitting home or it feels more abstract. So ill just focus on on three to get us started. You know, first and foremost, it is it is a fundamental right nearly every country around world has signed on to international and agreements dating back decades that guarantee gender in the economy and elsewhere or most recently, all 193 un Member States adopted. The Sustainable Development goals, which only call on countries to achieve gender equality by 2030, but also specifically call them to eliminate all forms of gender discrimination in the law, which is a big focus of this project. But even beyond that, gender equality matters to the wellbeing of everyone, you know, theres Extensive Research when more girls are able to stay school, Life Expectancy increases for women and men alike. Child nutrition improves, Educational Attainment increases not only for those girls. But for the next we also see really crosscutting impacts. More women are in leadership, so more women are in parliament countries. Take stronger action on climate change. You know, one of the key challenges of our generation when more women are on boards Corporate Social Responsibility practices increase and. None of this is to, you know, essential has the nature of womens contributions. But the fact is, you know, communities better and countries do better when. Women are able to fully participate. And when gender doesnt prevent anyone from pursuing their own path in life. And then finally, there are these broad economic benefits, you know, as jody mentioned, for the u. S. Alone in closing, gender gaps in the economy could add 4 trillion globally. The estimates around 28 trillion. So you know, no matter what your vantage point, the potential gains are immense, but actually achieving equality within our lifetimes will require every taking action to accelerate. Jody, did you want to add anything on that question . No, i think i couldnt have said it better. Everything that to the fantastic. So no, i think thats i think those are really, really important to this question. And i raised it in part because just at this moment in time with the pandemic it does feel difficult to know where to put our energies. You know, were facing climate. Were facing this ongoing to health care. But as you mentioned, you know, theres overlap with this problem of gender equality at every turn when you get there. And i think so many of us felt that during the pandemic that there was suddenly new a new rocking of the situation among folks who didnt get it. I mean, ive been covering care throughout the pandemic, for example, and the explosion of news interest in who has access to child care, where is it coming from, what it so broken in the United States, you know, how are other countries handling it . We havent really seen that level of interest in that question prior to the pandemic for a very long time. You know, since the 1970s, when child care was really on on the political map for the last time. So i was wondering if you could speak to that. You know, youre writing this book as the world is. I mean, facing challenge unlike any it had seen in recent years. One that just found its way into every school, every workplace, every home. How did that color your thinking about this book and the way that you thought about tackling these issues. So i can kick us off on one because i think i can speak directly some of the child care pieces and then ill pass it to jody since i know we had different experiences of the past few years, but you for me, when the pandemic started, when you were really just beginning to draft this, i had my first child, a six months old, and my parents had been providing child care, but they were unable to continue doing so as covid really took off. So, you know, as of march 2020, like millions other families, we were trying to juggle paid work and caregiving day in and day out at home. And, you know, frankly, was that was a grind. But, you know, i was also very fortunate in the big scheme of things, ultimately, i was able to continue to work because for one thing, i had