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While most of us know intuitively that women's place in the world has = risen=20 in the last several decades, a look at the hard data is startling, in a = good=20 way. Huge improvements in female access to education around the world = mean that=20 the literacy rates for young women, which used to trail those of men by = 30=20 percent or more, are now almost universally within a single digit of = men's. In=20 the U.S. and the EU, most college students are already women, and even = in most=20 of the key developing countries, girls now fare nearly as well as boys = in=20 primary- and secondary-school enrollment. Labor-force participation, = already=20 high in rich countries, has jumped exponentially in large swaths of the=20 developing world over the last few years; 70 percent of women in = countries like=20 China and Vietnam now work. Health has improved dramatically, and = fertility=20 rates have dropped. While women are still underrepresented in politics, = there=20 have been significant gains in recent years, most notably in poor=20 nations=E2=80=94countries like Uganda, Burundi, and Macedonia are among = those that now=20 have more than 30 percent female legislatures, thanks largely to = the=20 implementation of quotas. Around the world, nations are changing laws to = give=20 women more equal standing in areas like property, inheritance, and = divorce=20 rights. In many cases, technology and globalization have played an = important=20 role in changing attitudes. A 2007 study by the National Bureau of = Economic=20 Research on rural India found that within six to seven months of getting = cable=20 TV, men and women alike had become more open to the idea of women's = autonomy,=20 and more accepting of female participation in household decision = making.
In fact, women already make the majority of the world's purchasing = decisions.=20 BCG estimates that they control some $12 trillion of the world's = $18.4=20 trillion in annual consumer spending, and that percentage will likely = rise as a=20 new upwardly mobile class of young female professionals overtakes their = male=20 peers in wealth and status. In developed countries, there is already an = elite=20 cadre of urban women who are more powerful than their male counterparts. = "If you=20 walk down the streets of Manhattan, London, or Frankfurt today," notes = BCG=20 senior partner Michael J. Silverstein, "and you ask 100 single men and = women=20 between the ages of 25 and 30 what they make, the women will make more." = It's=20 nothing less than the entry of a new generation of potential leaders = onto the=20 world stage. "The shift is statistical," says Silverstein. "Older women = who=20 tended to be paid less are retiring, and a new group of younger women, = who had=20 equal education and started with roughly equal wages are rising." = Silverstein=20 believes that if this new group, now rising through middle management, = stays on=20 the fast track, the number of Fortune 500 CEOs who are women could rise = from 38=20 today to over 100 in the next 10 years.
Higher female earners in the developed world, coupled with growing = female=20 employment participation in poorer countries, is the reason that women's = earned=20 income is growing at 8.1 percent versus 5.8 percent for men. The = financial=20 crisis has widened this gap, by hitting male jobs hardest. Some 80 = percent of=20 job losses in the U.S. during the downturn have befallen men, in part = because=20 male-dominated areas like manufacturing and financial services have been = gutted=20 during the recession. But the rise of female earning power is a deeper = shift=20 that has gone hand in hand with the other economic megatrend of our era: = the=20 advancement of emerging markets. As Goldman's report makes clear, = improving=20 gender equality has coincided with the rapid growth of the global middle = class.=20 From about 1.7 billion people today, this middle class is expected = to reach=20 approximately 3.6 billion by 2030, and 85 percent of the newly = wealthy will=20 live in the world's major developing nations.
The rise of women as a grand, cross-border emerging market could have = implications as profound as the rise of India and China. There's a wide = body of=20 research to suggest that women's spending patterns may be exactly what = the world=20 needs at this moment. "Economists have studied how women spend in = comparison to=20 men, and they tend to spend more on things that are linked to people's=20 well-being, like health and education. They also tend to save more, and = exhibit=20 less risky financial behavior," notes Yassine Fall, senior economic = adviser for=20 UNIFEM, the U.N. agency dedicated to women. The fallout for business and = investors could be significant. Goldman Sachs estimates, for example, = that more=20 male-oriented product categories like alcohol and tobacco may show = slower growth=20 rates than areas like consumer durables, food, health care, and child = care=E2=80=94in=20 short, all the stuff that women spend their money on.
Women may also play an important role in reshaping industries like = financial=20 services. The female propensity to save may fuel growth of banking = services in=20 countries such as India, where roughly half of all household assets are=20 currently held in physical categories like land and machinery. The vast = unmet=20 desire among Western women for more simple, understandable financial = products=20 and services could also help make retail investing in countries like the = U.S.=20 more accessible and transparent. Analysts say companies like Visa, = Wal-Mart,=20 Nestle, Johnson & Johnson, and others that already have a strong leg = up in=20 the women's market stand to prosper further from the female consumer = boom.
Meanwhile, as women gain greater power at the political level, there = will=20 also likely be macroeconomic spending shifts. A study last year of = Britain's=20 Parliament found that since 1997, when the country doubled its female=20 representation in Parliament to 18.2 percent, family issues such as tax = credits,=20 health care, child care, and education have received more money and more = attention. Likewise, in India, where a 1992 law mandated increased = levels of=20 female participation in local government, female council leaders have = taken on=20 60 percent more water projects than their male counterparts. Of = course,=20 there's widespread consensus now that government spending on health, = education,=20 and social safety nets are exactly what the world needs to get growth = back on=20 track. If women can help do that, with political power as well as the = power of=20 the purse, they may be the catalyst for any number of new growth = markets.
With Anita Kirpalani in New York