PARIS (AP) — Governments looking to boost growth should focus on
further narrowing the "gender gap" that continues to hold women
back in education, employment and entrepreneurship, a new report
said Monday. Women continue to earn less than men, are less
likely to make it to the top of the career ladder and are more
likely to spend their final years in poverty, according to
"Closing the Gender Gap," released by the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development. Trimming or eliminating
this discrimination could provide a significant source of growth
for ailing economies, the OECD says: on average, a 50 percent
decrease in the gender gap in labor force participation would
lead to a 0.3 percentage point increase in annual GDP per-capita
growth rate in OECD countries. "Investment in gender equality
yields the highest returns of all development investments," the
OECD said. "Gender inequality means not only forgoing the
important contributions that women make to the economy, but also
wasting years of investm