Editorial | Women carry even heavier burden
- International Women’s Day is time to reflect on how the pandemic has placed greater responsibility on their shoulders both at work and home, and the Hong Kong measures that have made some lives a little easier
Even in fully liberated societies, International Women’s Day remains an occasion for a kind of stocktake on women’s progress towards equality of representation with men in leadership positions, commensurate with their ability and qualifications.
The numbers show it remains slow.
Currently, only 8.2 per cent of Fortune 500 CEOs are women. Around 14 per cent of board positions of companies listed in Hong Kong are held by women. Only 20 per cent of director-level positions in the city’s finance industry are held by women.
McKinsey Global Institute says economic parity between men and women could add as much as US$28 trillion, or 26 per cent, to annual global gross domestic product.
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International Women's Day puts spotlight on female health care workers fighting Covid-19
International Women’s Day spans a whole range of women’s issues across societies from rich to poor. But this year one issue is common to them all. While everyone is affected by Covid-19, women generally bear a greater burden.