Gender gaps in opportunity start early — in many societies, families prioritize boys' school enrollment when they cannot afford it for all their children. Indeed, sixteen million girls will never set foot in a classroom, and women account for two-thirds of all adults without basic literacy skills. Education at the secondary level and beyond is critical to prepare children for the workforce: educated women are more likely to have professional and technical jobs, assume leadership roles, and share unpaid word equitably with men. Also, the longer girls stay in school, the more child marriage rates drop and family planning and maternal health improve.

The internet and mobile phones open up opportunities for financial inclusion and increase access to employment opportunities. Flexible and remote work, for example, can bring women into the labor force. In fact, when women have access to digital technology, they are more likely to hold professional and technical jobs and spend less time in unpaid care work. Yet, in developing economies, only 74 percent of women own a mobile phone, compared to 84 percent of men.

Women perform 75 percent of the world's unpaid work — effectively subsidizing the global economy. They do 60 percent more household work than men and perform the vast majority of unpaid care work for children, the elderly, and the sick. More time spent on unpaid work means less participation in the labor force: in countries where women average five or more hours per day on unpaid work, at most 50 percent are employed or seeking formal-sector employment.