​On March 8, we have celebrated International Women’s Day, with many companies around the globe pledging their commitment to equity in the workplace. However, based on the findings published in the Global Gender Gap Report 2021, yet another generation of women will have to wait until we achieve gender parity.

As the financial and societal implications of Covid-19 continue to be felt, the average time that it will take to close the gender gap worldwide has increased from 99.5 years to 135.6 years.

Distance to gender parity

The Covid-19 pandemic has impeded building inclusive and equitable economies, by amplifying pre-existing gender gaps and slowing down the progress towards gender parity. The crisis has appeared to have hit women harder, as they were more likely to be in the industries affected by lockdowns and rapid digitalization. In addition, women were more likely than men to deal with additional pressures of around the clock childcare and homeschooling, even if