WEF 2022: Oxfam calls for wealth tax to benefit women in informal sectors

During a session on gender parity at the WEF 2022 at Davos, Bucher noted that billionaire wealth has risen greatly during the two years of the pandemic

On the first day of the World Economic Forum's (WEF) annual meeting, Oxfam International Executive Director Gabriela Bucher called for the wealth tax on billionaires to benefit women pushed into poverty by the coronavirus (Covid-19)pandemic

During a session on gender parity at the WEF on Monday, Bucher noted that while billionaire wealth has risen greatly during the two years of the pandemic, women have been left out as millions, especially in the Global South, lost their jobs in the informal sector. 

Achieving gender equality will now take 136 years, with the Covid-19 pandemic pushing back progress by a generation, she added.

Bucher called for structural changes to the economy, eg. through taxation.

“By and large those profiting at the top are mostly men and the whole system is really structured on the shoulders of women in the sense of unpaid care work,” she said. 

According to Bucher, the key transformative policy that needs funding is childcare to enable women to work, along with a push to get girls back into education.

Bucher noted the need to tackle the “pandemic of domestic violence” which affected one in two women during Covid-19, according to the UN. 

“Many organisations have realised that in-person presence in the workplace does not equate to productivity,” said Jonas Prising, chairman and CEO of ManpowerGroup, adding the lasting legacy of the Covid-19 pandemic is going to be greater flexibility, which will enable women to participate easier in the absence of support structures such as childcare.

However, that flexibility has to be well-managed to ensure that those working outside the office are not at a disadvantage when it comes to promotion. Meanwhile, said Prising, in the current environment of a skills-short labour market, essential workers are seeing their wages rise. This will benefit women seeking to get back into the workforce, he said. “Employers are looking for skilled workers. Women are more skilled and more educated than men yet are 20% under-represented, so employers will understand they need to attract female talent into their workforces.”

Stephanie Trautman, chief growth officer of global tech company Wipro, highlighted the inconsistency in how companies promote men and women.

“We have to be purposeful without necessarily being quota-driven,” she said, “because I don’t think women want that. We want to be in leadership positions because we deserve to be in leadership positions”.

Steve MacMillan, Chairman and CEO of medical device and diagnostics company Hologic, emphasised the importance of getting the right data to reveal gender gaps and challenges.