If a country used only half its factories it would waste a lot of its productive potential. The same is true if we tap into only half of society’s brainpower.
As head of the Productivity Commission, I spend a lot of time thinking about what governments can do to improve Australia’s living standards. While many jump to the “usual suspects” of tax and IR reforms, there are many changes that could help shift the dial. One close to my heart, especially on International Women’s Day, is empowering women to fully participate in the economy.
Women’s workforce participation has been rising steadily since the mid-1960s. More than three-quarters of Australian women of working age now do some paid work each week, compared to less than 50 per cent in the early 1980s.
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Danielle Wood is the chairwoman of the Productivity Commission.
