OECD countries are facing simultaneous “megatrends,” including the climate transition, technological change, and demographic shifts. Although increases in life expectancy and healthy ageing represent a historic success of public health and social protection systems, population ageing has the potential to negatively affect many OECD countries, including those in the Asia-Pacific region and Europe. Population ageing is the result of relatively low (and declining or stagnant) fertility rates, delayed childbearing, and longer life expectancy – with harmful implications for economic growth, competitiveness and the sustainability of social protection programmes like pensions and healthcare systems (OECD, 2024[1]) (OECD, forthcoming[2]). These demographic shifts are occurring at the same time as a declining trend in productivity growth in developed economies (OECD, 2024[3]), and reforms to encourage longer working lives do not always reach fruition.
Population ageing-induced worker shortages are worsened by persistent gender gaps in education, employment, entrepreneurship, and public life (OECD, 2023[4]). Women are less likely to be employed, are less likely to work full-time, and earn less, on average, than men in every OECD country (OECD, 2023[4]). Given that young women’s educational attainment now exceeds that of young men’s, women’s weaker labour force attachment – at both the intensive and extensive margins – represents serious lost potential for economies and societies (OECD, 2025[5]). And as population ageing strains health systems, the (potential) movement of more women into typically “feminized” caregiving jobs also risks further entrenching longstanding gender gaps in pay and job quality.
Women and girls are critical to navigating the multitude of societal, economic, and environmental transitions facing APEC and OECD countries. Indeed, women’s empowerment may be the greatest lever to revitalising societies and economies. OECD estimates show that closing gender gaps in labour force participation and working hours could increase annual growth by an average of 0.23 percentage points across the OECD by 2060 (OECD, 2023[4]).
How can governments simultaneously tackle demographics challenges while also promoting gender equality via women’s economic empowerment? The first part of the paper analyses the challenges of population ageing in the OECD and associated implications for societies and economies. It sheds light on gender equality factors that have significant potential for helping to address the challenges of population ageing.
The second part then explores the risks to economies and societies of failing to consider gender equality policy as part of demographic policy reforms. It highlights how key policy levers and implementation strategies can help tackle these pressing social and economic challenges, emphasising how targeted and combined policies and gender mainstreaming mechanisms can best support strategic, holistic and gender-sensitive responses.