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  • Did you know that for every one dollar earned by a man,

  • a woman earns around 80 cents?

  • That's a pretty big gap.

  • So what would happen to the economy

  • if it was one for one?

  • Together, we're stronger!

  • The MeToo movement has put gender inequality

  • in the spotlight from London all the way to Hollywood,

  • and a lot of that inequality comes in the form of cold hard cash.

  • The gender pay gap is the difference in median earnings

  • between a man and a woman.

  • It's expressed as a percentage of men's earnings.

  • So if the gender pay gap is 20%, that means

  • a woman earns 80 cents for every one dollar earned by a man.

  • OK, so how big of a gap are we talking about?

  • Well, it ranges around the world.

  • Korea, Estonia and Japan have some of the biggest gender pay gaps,

  • while Costa Rica, Luxembourg and Greece have the smallest gaps.

  • So why do women earn less than men?

  • There are a lot of pieces to this puzzle.

  • Let's use some fictional characters here in the U.K.

  • to try to put it together.

  • Meet Sally and James.

  • Let's pretend they both start working

  • in full-time jobs at the same age.

  • Research from the U.K. government shows

  • Sally is likely to work in the caring, leisure

  • and service industries,

  • or in an administrative or secretarial job.

  • James, meanwhile, is more likely to work in skilled trades

  • or as a process, plant or machine operator.

  • These differences in occupations

  • account for a big part of the pay gap.

  • But there's another important factor, too.

  • Yep, motherhood.

  • Even though Sally and James start out making about the

  • the same amount of money, the pay gap

  • really starts to widen in their mid-30s and 40s.

  • Sally might stop working or start working part-time

  • for a while to raise a family,

  • and when she comes back to work full-time,

  • she earns a lot less than her male counterparts.

  • Not to mention, it's estimated women like Sally

  • account for 75% of the world's total unpaid work,

  • including crucial tasks to keep households running.

  • One thing to note is that even after looking at

  • differences in occupations and work hours,

  • the U.K. government found that 64% of the gender pay gap

  • couldn't be explained, and some see this as

  • evidence of discrimination in the workplace.

  • But regardless of the causes of the

  • gender pay gap, most experts agree leveling it out

  • will have big-time economic benefits.

  • One study found that equal pay would cut

  • the poverty rate of working women in half,

  • and produce an additional income of around $512 billion

  • to the U.S. economy.

  • Another report found that if women in developing countries

  • were paid as much as men,

  • they could earn an extra $2 trillion.

  • That's an 18% bump in pay.

  • Plus there are economic bonuses just from

  • putting more women to work.

  • In 2017, just under half of working-age women

  • participated in the labor market.

  • That's compared to 75% of men.

  • If as many women worked as men, the IMF estimates

  • GDP would increase by 5% in the U.S.

  • 9% in Japan

  • 12% in the UAE

  • and 27% in India.

  • The IMF also found that bringing more women

  • into the boardroom can directly boost

  • a company's bottom line.

  • Some countries haven't been able to ignore these numbers.

  • As of 2017, the U.K. mandated that companies

  • with more than 250 employees

  • report gender pay gaps in the workplace.

  • This year, Iceland enacted a first-of-its-kind law

  • that forces companies to eliminate pay gaps.

  • Some companies are creating more flexible policies

  • for women who want to work full-time and have children,

  • and for men to take paternity leave.

  • Agencies like the U.N. promote higher education

  • and skills training to bring more women into the workforce.

  • These efforts look like steps in the right direction.

  • But research shows it will still take 100 years

  • to close the global gender gap.

  • And for many people here, closing the gap isn't

  • isn't just a women's issue, it's an economic issue, too.

  • Hey everyone, it's Elizabeth.

  • Thanks so much for tuning in.

  • Be sure to check out more of our videos over here.

  • And also leave us any other ideas

  • for CNBC Explains in the comments section.

  • And be sure to subscribe to our channel.

  • See you later!

Did you know that for every one dollar earned by a man,

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