Doing Business Blog - The World Bank Group

Maternity Leave: the Longer the Better?

I recently came across an interesting factoid : apparently, the former Soviet Union countries have the longest total maternity and child care leave in the world.

During my travel to Azerbaijan, Georgia and Russia, I discovered that in both Azerbaijan and Georgia, the duration of paid maternity leave is 126 days; in Russia, it totals 140 days, 70 days being before birth and 70 after. In all three countries, women can take an additional partially paid leave and keep their employment: 477 days in Georgia, and up to three years in Azerbaijan and Russia.

On the other extreme, the U.S. Family and Medical Leave Act provides for 12 weeks of unpaid job-protected leave, and it only covers those who work for larger companies. The Act does not provide for paid maternity leave, but this may be legislated for at the state level. California, for example, allows leave for both parents with partial pay.

What are the issues behind maternity leave regulations?

Breaking the Male Cartel in the Workplace

The following excerpts are from an article featured in the Financial Times on Thursday, April 24, 2008 written by Helen Mees.

“…Women have become the engines of global growth over the past decade, according to the Economist magazine.  This is especially true in east Asia... In the Philippines, 89 percent of companies have women in senior management positions.  China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Singapore follow closely in terms of women in top jobs.  Even in India, where more than half of all girls and women are illiterate, a higher share of women hold senior management positions than women in countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal.  In Europe, the percentage of women on corporate boards remains in single digits and the same applies to female professors and government officials. 

A Woman for All Women

Women from government, public and private sector congregated in London on April 2 for the Women of the Future Economic Empowerment Summit where a dialogue among global female leaders began to discuss the importance of women’s role in the economy. Pinky Lilani – founder of the Asian Women of Achievement Awards and author of the Indian cookbook Spice Magic – founded and coordinated the Summit.

During the event she noted: “I wanted to get people of influence and people who can make a difference to come together to discuss issues that basically effect women deeply, but I wanted men involved in the situation because really we can’t do much without them, and the objective is to begin a conversation which I hope will become louder and will engage more and more people on issues like climate change, leadership styles, and entrepreneurship. It was really to get women together and make a difference.”

Regarded as one of the world’s most powerful businesswomen, Indra Nooyi (see picture of Indra and me), the CEO and chairman of PepsiCo, gave an inspirational keynote address. Indra candidly spoke about how her success did not come without a struggle. She outlined three important aspects of progress for women in the workplace:

Wikigender

Wikigender made its debut in Paris right in time for International Women’s Day (March 8). The new online portal modeled after the online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, was introduced by the OECD Development Centre to share and exchange information on gender equality.

The international community is becoming increasingly aware of the link between legal, social and cultural norms on the status of women and economic progress. Quite often women find themselves forced into the informal sector in countries that do not strive to achieve gender equality in education and other sectors and where the female population is underutilized as an available human resource.

When Women Went on Strike...

On October 24, 1975 women of Iceland went on strike. "They refused to work, cook, clean, and look after their children" and husbands. Icelandic society was almost paralyzed that day.

It was meant to be a wake up call about the role women play in society, their lower than men's pay, and the low value placed on their jobs in their homes and work places. That day was later referred as "a very long Friday" by Icelandic man. The strike sent the whole of the Nordic community reeling and paved the way for the election five years later of Vigdis Finnbogadottir (see picture), the first democratically elected female president in the world.

Having a female president in the office did not resolve gender issues overnight. Although 90% of Icelandic women worked outside the home, still, responsibility for housework and childcare remained overwhelmingly on their shoulders - at the expense of their careers.

This Seat Has Been Taken

In 2003, Norway introduced legislation which mandated all companies to fill the seats on their boards of directors with women by January 1, 2008. The law required publicly listed corporations to have at least 40% of women on their boards or close their doors to business. As a result, approximately 38% of board members are now female compared to 15.5% when the legislation was first introduced.

By 2008 the goal to have more women in the boardroom had been met, and not a single company was closed for non-compliance.

                                                                               (picture from 50/50 Leadership)

Shattering the Glass Ceiling

For many women in the developing world, it’s not the glass ceiling that prevents them from making it to the C-suite, but rather the obstacles they face along the way. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), which provides an annual assessment of entrepreneurial activity at the national level worldwide, found that overall there are higher rates of female entrepreneurship in developing countries than developed countries. But this distinction is borne of necessity.

The main challenges that women face are social inequality, lack of education and trouble in securing funding. A recent study by PricewaterhouseCoopers made an interesting finding; women in developing countries find it easier to break through the glass ceiling than their colleagues in the west. Samuel DiPiazza, the company’s global head said, “In some countries such as Germany and Switzerland, there are cultural and social perceptions of women that make advancement much more challenging. Whereas in the developing world, there is a huge cry for talent, where there is enormous growth, you must be able to adjust to these norms faster.”

What Makes Women Happy?

With Valentine’s Day less than a month away many people are asking "what makes women happy?" And as many often find out, there is no easy answer. In fact, it is probably becoming harder to make women happy.

Although women’s lives in the United States have improved by most objective measures (such as, female income and labor force participation), when asked if they are happy, a smaller percentage of women now answers "yes" when compared to women in the 1970s. This result is presented in “The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness” by Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers of Wharton. The authors also find that women are on average happier than men, but they are becoming less happy over time relative to men.

Women Entrepreneurs: Obstacles Overcome

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw started her business with Rs. 10,000 of capital in her garage. Her applications for loans were turned down three times due to gender discrimination from banks in India. In 1978 she founded the company Biocon India and is the richest woman in India today.

Surprisingly enough, there are still only about 9% of women in India who participate in ownership of a firm according to the World Bank Enterprise Survey data. Like Kiran’s story, Doing Business would like to hear about the many women entrepreneurs who may not be in the spotlight, but who have faced and overcome such obstacles as Kiran did in establishing her businesses.

Unleashing Women Entrepreneurs in Emerging Markets

Over the next two years Doing Business will identify laws and regulations that discriminate against women. In the United Arab Emirates and Yemen for example, the law forbids women to work at night. To start a business in the Democratic Republic of Congo, married women need their husband’s consent. And in many African countries, women have fewer inheritance rights than men.

Such laws must change because they prevent women from realizing their economic potential and constrain economic development. And where there is enormous growth, the demand for talent is huge. Last time in Delhi, I met up with an old friend from law school. She works as in-house counsel for a successful Indian private equity fund. When asked if she was happy in her career, she told me she had decided to quit the law to start her own business.

I haven't figured out the type of business, but I’ve consulted with a fortune teller and the timing is right. India is the place to be- there are so many opportunities. It is now or never.