The Big Take
An Unapologetic Old Boys’ Network Is Costing Australia Billions
Gender inequality is even starker in Australia than in the U.S. or U.K. The price paid — by individuals and the economy — is significant.
It’s the Australian Paradox. In terms of women’s educational attainment, no country does better, according to the World Economic Forum. But when it comes to women’s participation in the economy, this nation of 26 million ranks 70th on the WEF’s list — behind Kazakhstan, Serbia and Zimbabwe. As recently as 2006 it sat at no. 12.
Political and economic life here is dominated by men to an even greater degree than in the United States, the United Kingdom or Canada — Australia’s cultural kin. And Down Under, as elsewhere, the pandemic is making inequality of all kinds even worse.