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.

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