Economic Security

Women are the backbone of economies around the world, performing critical tasks that support the household while significantly contributing to agriculture and the informal sectors of most developing nations.

In spite of their contributions, women’s unpaid work is rarely recognized or counted in tallies of gross national product. Entrenched cultural, educational and legal discrimination excludes women and girls from many professions, leaving them clustered in the lowest-paying jobs. Women are not paid equally for equal or comparable work anywhere in the world, including in the United States.

Both at home and in the workplace women are exposed to violence and economic and sexual exploitation. The globalized economy has significantly affected women, offering new opportunities for economic independence, but also destroying the natural environments that provide livelihoods for others.

Growing income inequality within developing nations and between the poor nations of the Global South and the ever wealthier Global North, force millions to migrate in search of work either to urban areas in their home countries or overseas.  Women now make up the majority of the world’s migrant labor force. As nannies and maids they are caring for the young, sick and elderly of the well-to-do while subsequently abandoning their own families. Globalization has also led to the privatization of basic social services and the weakening of labor rights and protections.

The Global Fund for Women provides grants to organizations that promote women’s economic empowerment through a variety of strategies, including skills training, access to microloans and organizing migrants and other women workers. Our grants promote women's leadership in environmental and natural resource management and efforts to educate policymakers on how macroeconomic policy and trade negotiations affect women’s economic well-being.