Finally, Equal Pay for Women ... in the Year 2186

WEF report shows progress on gender wage gap is slowing—or even reversing
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 26, 2016 8:03 AM CDT
Finally, Equal Pay for Women ... in the Year 2186
Everything should be even-steven in another 170 years or so.   (Getty Images)

Women may now be equal with men in terms of their drinking, but it could take another 170 years for them to achieve pay parity, Reuters reports. The World Economic Forum said Tuesday that even though last year's guesstimate put gender paycheck equality at around the year 2133, that date has now been pushed back to 2186. Forward movement on this front has slowed down dramatically, or even reversed, in countries around the world, leading the gap back to where it was in 2008, per the Swiss organization's annual Global Gender Gap Report. When it comes to average annual earnings worldwide, women take home $10,778 to men's $19,873 paycheck, even though the report notes that women put in around 50 minutes more of work each day than men. Women are also still less likely to achieve senior positions in the workplace, the Guardian notes.

Iceland and Finland are at the top of the 144-nation survey based on progress in economic opportunity, education, and other metrics, while Yemen and Pakistan bring up the rear; the US comes in at No. 45. Not that women should be resigned to cashing in smaller paychecks than their male counterparts for nearly two more centuries. "These forecasts are not foregone conclusions," says WEF executive committee member Saadia Zahidi, per Reuters, noting they're just a current progress indicator and should serve as a wake-up call to remedy the problem. "Ensuring the healthy development and appropriate use of half of the world's total talent pool has a vast bearing on the growth, competitiveness, and future readiness of economies and businesses worldwide," the WEF report notes. (Massachusetts passed the country's "strongest equal pay law" over the summer.)

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