Report: Gender Equality Won’t Be Reached for Another 134 Years

Making strides toward gender equality has been a big effort among workplace leaders in recent years, but a new report offers a stark reminder of how far there is left to go: Based on the current rate of progress, women will probably not reach gender parity with men for 134 years.

That’s according to a report by JPMorgan Chase, released this month, which found that the global gender gap across 146 countries remains largely unchanged in 2024, with just 68.5% of the gap closed when taking into consideration economic and political participation, educational attainment, and health.

“If current trends persist, it is projected that global gender equality will not be realized until the 22nd century,” the report said. 

According to the JPMorgan Chase report, women hold only about 32% of senior leadership positions globally and overall continue to lag in pay. The U.S. gender pay gap increased to about 17% last year and remained unchanged at almost 13% in Europe, according to the New York City-based financial services firm. 

The report comes just ahead of Equal Pay Day, which was started by the National Committee on Pay Equity in 1996 to raise awareness about wage inequity. The date symbolizes how far into the new year women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year. This year, it falls on March 25.

Research from SHRM finds that more than 70% of HR professionals agree that women face discrimination in the labor market.

[Learn about SHRM’s new BEAM Framework and how it relates to pay]

[Some progress, though, has been made, according to JPMorgan Chase. “Prime-age female labor force participation rates have risen to 65.7%, surpassing pre-pandemic levels, and the number of women in the U.S. job market has reached a historic high,” the report said. 

Addressing the Pay Gap

Other data indicates that the persistent pay gap is one of the biggest barriers to gender equality. In the U.S., female workers on average make 83 cents on the dollar compared to men, according to the 2025 Gender Pay Gap Report by Payscale. That number is the same as it was in 2024.

Women at the executive level earn 93 cents for every dollar men make, even when controlling for job characteristics, and just 72 cents when not controlling for these factors, according to Payscale.

The gap is also worse for working mothers, with Payscale finding that working mothers make 75 cents for every dollar a working father earns. By contrast, women without children experience a smaller pay gap, earning 88 cents on the dollar compared to men without children. 

Similarly, the JPMorgan Chase report found that “the heavier burden from unpaid family care work, especially child care, is one globally common factor holding females back from active labor participation.”

That may be one reason why more employers are adding or enhancing employee benefits that provide support for working parents and employees who support family members. Caregiving support is a growing trend among employee benefits, especially in the wake of the  pandemic, with companies such as Dow, Hilton, and Voya Financial responding to employees’ need for support.

“There’s a growing momentum” around caregiving support, including child care benefits, Carole Mendoza, vice president of benefits at Voya Financial in New York City, told SHRM last fall. “With more employees speaking up about their unique needs and more visibility of those needs post-COVID, we know more about what support employees need to be most productive at work.”