According to a new report from the McKinsey Global Institute, if the United States worked harder to make the genders more equal, it could advance its gross domestic product by trillions of dollars.
Slate reports that the US performs poorly in six of 10 major indicators of gender equity. Areas where the country falls short include violence against women and business leadership representation.
The report found that the US could add up to $4.3 trillion to its economy by 2025, if it increased women’s participation in the workforce, reduced the gender gap in work hours, and hired women in the economy’s most productive sectors.
While this is the estimate for how the GDP would increase under full gender equality, even in a less ideal scenario the numbers are good. If each state just managed to match the performance of the highest performing state in recent years, the GDP would go up by $2.1 trillion by 2025.