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Minouche Shafik: Keeping talented women working is good for the economy
More women are now going to college than men, but much of that talent later goes to waste. Why? For London School of Economics Director Minouche Shafik, the problem is that we don't have systems in place to retain talented women in the workforce in crisis situations like the pandemic, when so many women had to quit their jobs and stay home to take care of their kids. "The talent of all of those women is a huge potential economic gain to our societies," she explains, so we need to find a way to better match them to (remote) jobs that suit their skills. "This is not just about inequality story; this is really an economic efficiency story as well."
She spoke during "Measuring what matters: How women are critical to pandemic recovery," a livestream conversation on October 28, 2021, hosted by GZERO Media in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
What does “build back better” even mean (and can we do it)?
What does President Biden's "build back better" slogan really mean? Well, it implies the world before the pandemic already needed some fixing. In fact, it's kind of like "Make America Great Again." And there's a reason why those phrases hit home. A lot of people DO think the system is broken. But beyond catchy slogans, how do we actually fix it?
Watch the episode: Is modern society broken?
Women have borne the economic brunt of the pandemic
It's no secret that women around the world have shouldered much of the burden brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially when it comes to unpaid labor. As London School of Economics director Minouche Shafik points out in this week's episode of GZERO World, on average in the world women do two hours more unpaid work per day than men. And whether we're talking Norway or Pakistan, women have been doing more than their fair share for a long time before COVID hit. So how do women come back from what Shafik calls "the biggest change in the social contract in decades?" That's a major focus of this week's show.
Watch the episode: Is modern society broken?
How the social contract broke
Anyone who's seen an episode of "Leave it to Beaver" or "The Wonder Years" knows how the American dream is supposed to work: the white picket fence, the suburban home and the 2.5 handsome young children playing in the backyard. It's a sort of social contract, one that this country has built its identify around for the last half century. But is that dream dead? Or at the very least, far outdated? Few young people today can expect a stable career without an expensive college education and many older people are spending far more years in retirement than past generations. So what do we do when the social contract breaks down? And how do we patch up all the holes in the social safety net? London School of Economics Director Minouche Shafik shares some solutions (hint: "free money" isn't one of them).
Watch the episode: Is modern society broken?
Is modern society broken?
What does President Biden's "build back better" slogan really mean? If you asked him, he'd likely say that life after the pandemic shouldn't just be as good as it was before COVID hit…it should be better. Who would disagree with that? But beyond the sloganeering, the need to create a much improved "new normal" has never been greater. With global inequality on and extreme poverty on the rise, how do we patch up the many holes in the world's social safety nets? Renowned economist and London School of Economics director Minouche Shafik has some ideas, which she shared with Ian Bremmer on GZERO World.
Podcast: The LSE’s Minouche Shafik on how to fix our broken society
Listen: It was an ongoing question before the pandemic, but coronavirus has made it all the more urgent. With global inequality and extreme poverty on the rise, how do we patch up the many holes in the world's social safety nets? The idea of governments providing all adults with a set amount of cash on a regular basis, no strings attached, is gaining attention worldwide — especially given the need to expand post-pandemic social safety nets. But for London School of Economics Director Minouche Shafik, universal basic income "is like giving up on people." Shafik speaks with Ian Bremmer on the GZERO World Podcast.
Subscribe to the GZERO World Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or your preferred podcast platform to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.- Podcast: US national security depends on domestic progress: Jane Harman explains - GZERO Media ›
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One economist’s argument against universal basic income
The idea of governments providing all adults with a set amount of cash on a regular basis, no strings attached, is gaining attention worldwide — especially given the need to expand post-pandemic social safety nets. But for London School of Economics Director Minouche Shafik, universal basic income "is like giving up on people." Find out why on the latest episode of GZERO World, which begins airing on US public television Friday, May 28. Check local listings.
Watch our expert panel on reasons for hope in the COVID crisis
Watch the recording of GZERO Media virtual Town Hall, "Reasons for Hope: COVID and the Coming Year," presented in partnership with Eurasia Group and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Our panel discussed the road ahead in the global response to the COVID crisis. Will there be more multilateral cooperation on issues like gender equality moving forward from the pandemic?
Watch the event recording here: https://www.gzeromedia.com/townhall
Our moderator, CNBC health care correspondent Bertha Coombs, along with Ian Bremmer, president of Eurasia Group and GZERO Media, and Mark Suzman, CEO of the Gates Foundation, spoke with distinguished experts on three key issues:
Heidi Larson, Director, The Vaccine Confidence Project
- How will COVID vaccines be distributed safely?
Minouche Shafik, Director of London School of Economics & Political Science
- How has the pandemic disproportionately impacted women?
Madeleine Albright, Chair, Albright Stonebridge Group and Albright Capital Management; former US Secretary of State
- What is the opportunity for global cooperation emerging from this crisis, and what are the greatest political risks?
Friday, December 4, 2020
12 noon EST/9 am PST/5 pm (17:00) GMT
#GZEROTownHall