經濟學家發現是女人支撐了全球經濟

What are the most effective tools for creating economic growth? It’s a question that drives and plagues government officials and researchers alike, as an endless quest for increased growth dictates policies that touch all of our lives. From tax reform to trade policy, decisions on immigration, infrastructure and education, growth is what lies beneath it all.

什麼是拉動經濟增長最有效的方法？正是這個問題讓那些政府官員，學者們上下求索，苦心尋覓。對經濟增長的永恆追求決定着政府政策，而政策與我們每個人的生活都息息相關。從稅制改革到貿易政策，從移民管控到基礎設施建設、教育制度，在底層起決定性作用的都是經濟增長。

But there is another powerful driver of economic growth that has long gone largely unrecognized: women’s economic empowerment. Commonly framed as a human rights or social issue, the conversation around women in the global workforce is now shifting towards the potentially explosive financial impact that increased gender equality could bring to both developed and emerging economies.

但是還有一種強大的經濟增長引擎，長期以來一直被大多數人忽視：女性推動經濟的力量。女權主義的發展過去一直被認爲是人權問題或社會問題，如今人們的關注點越來越轉向世界勞動力市場中女性所具有的促成經濟爆發式增長的影響力，無論是對發達國家還是發展中國家。

While women make up just over half the worldwide population, a recent studydetermined that they account for only 37% of measured global GDP. But make no mistake, today’s women are working–just not as consistently as men in the type of work that factors into GDP. In addition to formal jobs, women do 60% of the unpaid work, such as child and elderly care, shopping, and household tasks that allow society to run smoothly. In the U.S., if household production were properly accounted for in national income accounts, this work alone would amount to 26% of GDP.

女性佔據着超過一半的世界人口數量，一項近期研究顯示，他們在全球GDP測評值中只佔有37%的份額。但是不容忽略的是，如今女性都在工作——只是不像男人那樣從事着持續性的工作，因而可以算入對GDP的考量。除了正是工作之外，女性還承擔着60%無薪資的工作，比如養育孩子，照顧老人，採購，處理家務，保證着社會的正常運行。在美國，假設家庭事務的處理被合理的計算入國民收入覈算，僅這一工作就可以換算成26%的GDP。

The Citi GPS report tells the story of women as a powerful, often untapped driver of economic growth. The research has far-reaching potential to raise awareness of the issues and ultimately shift public policy. The numbers are, in fact, staggering: Countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) could see as much as a 20% leap in GDP if female involvement in the economy was raised to that of men.

Citi GPS 報告告訴人們，女性已經成爲強大，並且往往被忽略的經濟增長引擎。這項研究具有深遠的意義，能夠喚起人們對相關問題的總是，並且最終促成政府政策的改善。事實上，這是一個驚人的數字：經濟合作與發展組織提供的數據表明，如果女性對國民經濟的參與度提升至與男性相同的水平，GDP可實現高達20%的跳躍式增長。

You read that right: 20%.

你沒看錯，是20%。

To put that number into context, today’s estimates set the total potential growth for OECD countries at about 1.5 percent per year from 2016-18. According to Ebrahim Rahbari, and one of the report’s lead authors, the potential for growth through women’s economic empowerment far outweighs other options to boost growth such as monetary or fiscal stimulus packages.

放在具體的經濟環境下來說，據當前數據預測，女性促使的經濟增長總產值相當於經濟合作與發展組織成員國從2016-2018年年均1.5的國民總產值。這份報告的主要撰稿人之一，Ebrahim Rahbari稱，女性拉動經濟增長的潛能遠遠超過了貨幣政策，財政刺激等促進經濟增長的調控方式。

“The 20% number is an ambitious, best-case scenario because it relies on female participation levels, average working hours and average productivity levels matching that of men. More conservative, perhaps more realistic estimates for the near-to-medium term put the potential at 6% if we create the conditions to increase female participation in the economy,” Rahbari says. “But even at 6%, it far surpasses what you would expect as a gain from alternative options to boost growth such as the proposed tax reform in the US, which might boost GDP by around 1-1.5% over a few years. The size of the opportunity is just huge.”

“20%這個估算值是一種最理想狀態下，最理想主義的數字，因爲這取決於女性的參與度，平均工作時長，以及是否能達到與男性想當的平均工作效率水平。在更爲保守主義，更現實的估算下，用更爲低調的說法來說，如果我們能創造條件增加女性對國民經濟的參與度，這個數字大概爲6%。”Rahbari說。“不過就算是6%，這個數字也遠遠超過了其他促進經濟增長的選項所能帶來的經濟增長，比如在美國已被提出的稅制改革預計能在未來幾年拉動約1%-1.5%的經濟增長。女性拉動經濟增長的力量可謂潛力無限。