The Femeconomy Pledge

On 2nd November 2017, the World Economic Forum released their 2017 Global Gender Gap Report. The news was mixed. At the current rate of progress the overall global gender gap will take 100 years to close (so by 2117). However, the gap in the workplace will now not be closed for 217 years, so it’s not until 2334 that we will achieve workplace equality. It’s the first time since the report was released in 2006 that the gap has widened.

Australia in 2017 was ranked 35th on the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index. We were 15th place in 2006, 36th in 2015, 46th in 2016. Nicaragua, Rwanda and the Philippines all rank in the Top 10. The Global Gender Gap Index ranks countries based on the gap between males and females within each country, on 4 dimensions: Economic participation and opportunity, Educational attainment, Health and survival, and Political empowerment.

The Nordic countries continued to lead the world, with Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden in the Top 5 on the ranking table.

Shopping can be part of the solution

There are many top down solutions in place to accelerate gender equality. Recently, the discussion around quotas has been ramping up in reaction to the Australian Institute of Company Directors flagging uncertainty around achieving their target of 30 per cent female board directors on ASX200 companies by 2018.

We know women make 85 per cent of purchase decisions.

Australians spent $963 billion in total during the 2016-17 financial year. Therefore, it is estimated that women spent $818 billion over the same time period. That’s an incredible amount of economic power women have in their hands as customers, to effect change. Purchasing from companies that are women led will encourage more companies to have women in leadership.

Culture is lead from the top. If more women are at the top of the ladder, they can help address these gender equality issues:

the gender pay (and superannuation) gap
expanding career choices for girls and women, because if you can see it, you can be it
changing society’s view of gender roles in parenting and distribution of household work
changing workplace mindsets and behaviour around diversity and inclusion
normalising the role of women as leaders of industry.

Time to take the Femeconomy Pledge

Femeconomy is a website where you can choose brands with female leaders to create gender equality.

Most people habitually shop with and are loyal to just 10 brands. We want you to look up your Top 10 brands on Femeconomy’s directory, and check whether they are Femeconomy approved. And if some aren’t, make the switch to brands that are.

The brands that are approved feature Femeconomy’s approval badge, and have our thumbs up for meeting the criteria of at least 30% female board directors or a minimum of 50% ownership.

Women make over 85% of purchase decisions. You’re Femeconomy. Shop brands with female leaders to create gender equality. The power is in your purse. Sign up to Femeconomy's monthly enews to stay informed. Femeconomy’s Directors are Jade Collins and Alanna Bastin-Byrne.

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