Gender Socioeconomic Disparities

Article: Gender Socioeconomic Disparities

Liane Freire, Sergio Marcondes e Guilherme Andrade

The Gender Financial Gap

We understand the term “Gender Financial Gap” as the synthesis of deep inequalities in access to financial resources between men and women, materializing across multiple socioeconomic dimensions. These disparities are not only a reflection of historical social dynamics, but also a market failure that undermines the efficiency of the financial system. The Gender Financial Gap encompasses disparities in income, wealth, representation in leadership positions, and access to capital. It recognizes that expanding women’s access to capital is central to socioeconomic transformation, with far-reaching effects on women’s living conditions and society as a whole. Below, we explore an overview of each dimension of the concept.

Income Gap

Globally, women earn, on average, only 77% of what men earn for equivalent work, according to the International Labour Organization [1]. Additionally, UN Women data indicates that only 49% of women are in paid employment, compared to 75% of men [2]. This gap significantly reduces women’s economic capacity, limiting their financial independence and access to credit.

In Brazil’s labor market, income disparities between men and women—as well as between white and Black populations—are evident. In 2022, white men had an average income of R$ 3,793, while white women earned R$ 2,858, Black/brown men R$ 2,230, and Black/brown women R$ 1,781. On average, men earned 27% more than women, and white people earned 64.2% more than Black/brown people. White men earned 113% more than Black women [3]. In the same year, disparities were also striking across occupations: women earned 63.3% of men’s earnings in scientific and intellectual professions and 73.9% in executive roles [3].

Wealth Gap

Women hold less wealth across various forms such as real estate, savings, durable goods, investments, and financial assets. This perpetuates a cycle of economic exclusion by limiting their ability to generate passive income and restricting access to credit and financing due to lack of collateral. According to the World Bank, in many countries, less than 20% of women own land [4]. Furthermore, women hold on average 40% less in savings and investments compared to men, which restricts their access to broader economic opportunities [5].

This wealth gap is even more pronounced when viewed through an intersectional lens, disproportionately affecting Black women. In Brazil, data from the 2019 Continuous PNAD (National Household Sample Survey) by IBGE shows that 73.1% of white people and 71.1% of Black people lived in owner-occupied homes. Among these groups, 19.7% of Black individuals lived in properties without ownership documentation, compared to 10.1% among white individuals. This greater insecurity of ownership reflects additional barriers faced by Black women, worsening wealth inequality and further limiting their access to the formal financial system and wealth accumulation [6].

Leadership Gap

The presence of women in leadership positions has grown significantly in recent years but remains far from gender parity. According to the Women in Business 2024 report by Grant Thornton, 33.5% of senior management positions in mid-sized companies worldwide are held by women [7]. In parliaments, women held 26.5% of seats in lower or single houses worldwide as of 2023 [8]. These figures underscore the need for continued efforts to eliminate structural and cultural barriers that limit women’s advancement in leadership and politics.

Gender and racial disparities are also striking in leadership positions. In 2021, Black and brown people held 29.5% of managerial roles, while 69% were held by white people. Among the highest income earners, only 14.6% were Black or brown, compared to 84.4% white individuals [8]. In 2022, women held 39.3% of leadership positions, with the highest concentration in sectors such as Education (69.4%) and Health (70%), but only 31% in industrial areas [3]. In the private sector, only 7% of industrial presidencies were held by women, most of whom were white (75.5%) [9].

Capital Access Gap

The difficulty women face in accessing capital is underscored by revealing data. UN Women estimates that women entrepreneurs globally face a $1.7 trillion financing gap [10]. Additionally, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor reports that in many economies, women are less likely than men to access external funding to start or grow their businesses, receiving 40% less in venture capital investment than their male counterparts [11]. This gap is a critical obstacle to women’s entrepreneurship and broader economic growth.

The overlap of the four gaps—income, wealth, leadership, and capital access—reveals a deep structural challenge that extends beyond individual barriers faced by women.

This complex web of inequalities not only limits women’s financial and economic autonomy, but also restricts their full participation in economic and social development. It is a vicious cycle in which the absence of women in power perpetuates policies and practices that sustain gender inequality, while income and wealth gaps hinder women’s ability to overcome those barriers and rise to positions of influence.

In this context, the capital access gap emerges not merely as another obstacle but as a critical point that encapsulates and amplifies other disparities. It acts as a key indicator of the imbalance in economic power and a significant barrier to women’s progress.

Access to Capital as a Structural Solution

Expanding women’s access to capital has the potential to radically transform economies, creating a virtuous cycle of growth and equality. Facilitating such access allows women to invest in education, start businesses, acquire goods and services—generating not only financial autonomy but also significant contributions to global socioeconomic development.

Large-scale and accelerated capital orientation toward women is an essential vector of transformation to pave the way for a future in which gender no longer determines economic access and opportunity.

[1] INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION. Global Wage Report 2020–21: Wages and minimum wages in the time of COVID-19 . [s.l: s.n.]. Available at: <https://www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/wcmsp5/groups/public/@dgreports/@dcom m/@publ/documents/publication/wcms_762534.pdf>. Accessed in: 26 dec. 2024. 

[2] UN WOMEN. Women and men in the labour force. [s.l: s.n.]. Available at: <https://worlds-women-2020-data-undesa.hub.arcgis.com/apps/undesa::women-and-men-in-the-labour-force/about?path=>. Accessed in: 26 dec. 2024. 

[3] INSTITUTO BRASILEIRO DE GEOGRAFIA E ESTATÍSTICAS (IBGE). Estatísticas de Gênero Indicadores sociais das mulheres no Brasil. [s.l: s.n.]. Available at: <https://biblioteca.ibge.gov.br/visualizacao/livros/liv102066_informativo.pdf>. Accessed in: 26 dec. 2024. 

[4] WORLD BANK GROUP. Women, Business and the Law 2024. [s.l: s.n.]. Available at: <https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/b339e2a7-ea65-4ed0-a471-d285ded8c4c7/content>. Accessed in: 26 dec. 2024. 

[5] FIDELITY INTERNATIONAL. Fidelity Global Women & Money Study. [s.l: s.n.]. Available at: <https://www.fidelity.com.sg/articles/press-releases/2022-03-07-fidelity-global-women-money-study-financial-independence-closely-linked-with-active-investing-for-women-in-singapore-1650864020276>. Accessed in: 27 dec. 2024. 

[6] INSTITUTO BRASILEIRO DE GEOGRAFIA E ESTATÍSTICAS (IBGE). Desigualdades Sociais por Cor ou Raça no Brasil. [s.l: s.n.]. Available at: <https://biblioteca.ibge.gov.br/visualizacao/livros/liv101681_informativo.pdf>. Accessed in: 26 dec. 2024. 

[7] GRANT THORNTON. Women in Business 2024. Available at: https://www.grantthornton.com.br/globalassets/1.-member-firms/brazil/women-in-business/women-in-business-2024---grant-thornton.pdf. Accessed in: 27 dec. 2024. 

[8] INSTITUTO BRASILEIRO DE GEOGRAFIA E ESTATÍSTICA (IBGE). Desigualdades Sociais por Cor ou Raça no Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: IBGE, 2022. Available at: https://biblioteca.ibge.gov.br/visualizacao/livros/liv101972_informativo.pdf. Accessed in: 27 dec. 2024. 

[9] TALENSES GROUP; INSPER. Panorama Mulheres 2023. São Paulo: TalensesGroup, 2023. Available at: https://publicacao.talensesgroup.com/report-panorama-mulheres-2023. Accessed in: 27 dec. 2024. 

[10] UN WOMEN. Cinco pontos para acelerar o empoderamento econômicodas mulheres. 2024. Available at https://www.onumulheres.org.br/noticias/cinco-pontos-para-acelerar-o-empoderamento-economico-das-mulheres/. Accessed in: 27 dec. 2024. 

[11] GLOBAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP MONITOR (GEM). GEM 2018/2019 Women's Entrepreneurship Report. Available at: https://www.gemconsortium.org/report/gem-20182019-womens-entrepreneurshipreport. Accessed in: 30 dec. 2024.