The increase in the female employment rate produces positive effects on the GDP. The achievement of the objective set by the Lisbon Treaty, ie a rate of 60%, would in fact lead to an increase in GDP of up to 7%. This is the estimate elaborated by Anna Maria Tarantola, deputy general manager of the Bank of Italy, during the meeting 'Italian women meet China' at the Ministry of Equal Opportunities.
According to Tarantola, "despite some progress, the Italian situation still has ample room for improvement and positioning in the global gender gap" places our country in 74th place (97th for the component relating to economic participation). The female employment rate, which reached 46,3% last July, is still about 22 percentage points below the male equivalent and far from the target set by the Lisbon Treaty.
Working women are present well above the average in low-paid contractual types and in atypical forms of work. Finally, Tarantola highlighted that "a greater presence of women in companies, especially at the top, would be associated with better performance and a lower risk of default of the company".
