Why Closing the Gender Pay Gap is a Multi Trillion Investment Opportunity

We talk about the gender pay gap as a moral issue but an often-overlooked motivator is that closing the gender pay gap is an economic accelerator. One that could add US$12 trillion to the global economy – or up $28 trillion if women were to participate in the workforce identically to men. The latter may be unlikely but highlights something important:

Women’s unpaid and underpaid labour is an invisible, eye-watering subsidy propping up the global economy.

So how does paying women fairly create that level of wealth? A question I have spent considerable time trying to understand as an advocate not an economist (disclaimer!)

1. Money isn’t a pie. It’s a circulation system – or at least it’s meant to be.

One of the biggest misconceptions about money is that it’s finite — as if we’re all fighting over a fixed number of slices of the pie. But money grows through circulation.

When women earn more, they (can) spend more. When women spend more, businesses grow. When businesses grow, they hire more staff. When more staff are hired, tax revenue increases. When tax revenue increases, governments (are meant to) invest in infrastructure, services, and innovation.

Economies don’t thrive when a handful of billionaires hoard wealth. They thrive when billions of people are able to participate, earn, spend, create, innovate, and reinvest. One pay rise can move through dozens of hands, growing the economic impact far beyond the original amount.

Closing the GPG could increase global GDP by more than 20%. That’s more than redistribution. It’s economic velocity.

2. Closing the GPG increases labour force participation and productivity.

Women make up half the global talent pool. But every time a woman is underpaid, underestimated, or sidelined for promotion - productivity drops, innovation declines, talent pipelines shrink, organisational decision-making suffers, and labour markets lose capacity.

Pay equity is unlocking human capital that’s already there — just chronically undervalued. When women are paid and promoted fairly, organisations don’t just “get more diverse.” They get smarter, more competitive, and more profitable – because equitable structures unlock women’s full professional and economic potential.

3. Fair pay increases demand — and demand fuels job creation.

Women reinvest a significantly higher share (up to 90%) of their income into families and communities. When women have more income demand for goods and services rises, small businesses thrive, new markets open and local job creation accelerates.

This isn’t theoretical. Countries that have closed large portions of their gender gap (Nordics, parts of Western Europe) consistently report:

• higher GDP per capita

• stronger labour markets

• faster recovery after economic shocks

• more stable long-term growth

When women earn more, everyone benefits.

4. Equality is a growth strategy, not a cost.

Pay equity is often framed as an expense rather than an investment. But inequality costs organisations through turnover, burnout, absenteeism, untapped leadership potential, stalled innovation, disengagement, reputational damage, and recruitment challenges.

Replacing a single employee can cost 50–200% of their salary. Meanwhile, companies with gender-balanced leadership are 25% more likely to financially outperform their competitors.

Inequity drains. Equity restores.

5. So the multi-trillion-dollar question: How does closing the GPG add trillions to the global economy?

Because when women earn more, the entire system becomes more productive:

• more workers → more output

• more innovation → more competitive industries

• more spending → higher demand

• more demand → more jobs

• more jobs → more tax revenue

• more tax revenue → better economies

• better economies → more resilience, stability, and shared prosperity.

It’s compounding economics.

Money makes money — but only when it’s actually allowed to flow.

Right now, women are the bottleneck in the system. Not because of who we are, but because of how we’re valued.

Closing the pay gap is not “reallocating” resources. It’s unlocking suppressed economic potential on a global scale.

The gender pay gap isn’t just a fairness issue. It’s a multi-trillion-dollar economic investment opportunity hiding in plain sight.

And when we fix the story about worth — internally and systemically — the economy doesn’t just get more equal. It gets larger, faster, smarter, and more human.

What are we waiting for?