• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
MPW

A Day Without a Woman Could Cost the Country Nearly $21 Billion in GDP

By
Madeline Farber
Madeline Farber
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Madeline Farber
Madeline Farber
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 7, 2017, 1:02 PM ET

On Wednesday, people across United States will partake in “A Day Without A Woman“—a national strike that encourages women to take off from paid or unpaid labor, abstain from shopping, and wear red in solidarity.

One of major goals of the event is to highlight the vital role women play in both the global and domestic economy. While it’s too soon to know the actual economic impact of the movement, the Center for American Progress has a projection: If all paid women were to take off on March 8, it could cost the U.S. almost $21 billion in Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

To come up with that number, analysts looked at the labor share of the GDP, and women’s relative pay and hours of work. Overall, they determined that women’s labor contributes a whopping $7.6 trillion to the nation’s GDP each year. But to further quantify women’s impact on a local level, the study’s authors also broke down what female residents of each state contribute to GDP per day. Working women in California and New York contributed the most, nearly $2.8 billion and $1.7 billion, respectively. Those in Vermont contributed the least, $36.8 million.

Sign up: Click here to subscribe to the Broadsheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter on the world’s most powerful women.

“Women have long played a vital role in the economy, but women’s earnings and economic contributions are becoming more and more essential,” Kate Bahn an economist at CAP and co-author of the analysis, said in a statement. “However, due to occupational segregation and the devaluation of jobs that women disproportionately hold, outdated labor standards, and insufficient work-family policies, women in the United States aren’t able to meet their full economic potential.”

What’s more, if the GDP accounted for unpaid labor, (which is currently does not), the economic impact of all women refraining from all work on Wednesday would be far greater. For instance, women in the U.S. spend 150% more time on housework than men do, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, which the study notes. If this type of labor were taken into account, the U.S. GDP could increase by 26%.

“Take, for instance, the undervaluation of female-dominated jobs like school teachers, who affect the long-term productivity of children as they grow up and become workers themselves,” Bahn tells Fortune. “Or take the disproportionate amount of unpaid family care-taking duties women do, like making sure kids get to school happy and healthy in the first place.”

“Women’s contributions are even bigger when we think about the ways that aren’t measured by GDP,” she says.

About the Author
By Madeline Farber
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in MPW

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in MPW

Workplace CultureSports
Exclusive: Billionaire Michele Kang launches $25 million U.S. Soccer institute that promises to transform the future of women’s sports
By Emma HinchliffeDecember 2, 2025
1 month ago
C-SuiteLeadership Next
Ulta Beauty CEO Kecia Steelman says she has the best job ever: ‘My job is to help make people feel really good about themselves’
By Fortune EditorsNovember 5, 2025
2 months ago
ConferencesMPW Summit
Executives at DoorDash, Airbnb, Sephora and ServiceNow agree: leaders need to be agile—and be a ‘swan’ on the pond
By Preston ForeOctober 21, 2025
3 months ago
Jessica Wu, co-founder and CEO of Sola, at Fortune MPW 2025
MPW
Experts say the high failure rate in AI adoption isn’t a bug, but a feature: ‘Has anybody ever started to ride a bike on the first try?’
By Dave SmithOctober 21, 2025
3 months ago
Jamie Dimon with his hand up at Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit
SuccessProductivity
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says if you check your email in meetings, he’ll tell you to close it: ’it’s disrespectful’
By Preston ForeOctober 17, 2025
3 months ago
Pam Catlett
ConferencesMPW Summit
This exec says resisting FOMO is a major challenge in the AI age: ‘Stay focused on the human being’
By Preston ForeOctober 16, 2025
3 months ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Personal Finance
Peter Thiel makes his biggest donation in years to help defeat California’s billionaire wealth tax
By Nick LichtenbergJanuary 14, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Europe
Americans have been quietly plundering Greenland for over 100 years, since a Navy officer chipped fragments off the Cape York iron meteorite
By Paul Bierman and The ConversationJanuary 14, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Health
The head of marketing at Slate posted on LinkedIn requesting cleaning services as a benefit at her company. The next day, HR answered her call
By Sydney LakeJanuary 15, 2026
22 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Despite a $45 million net worth, Big Bang Theory star still works tough, 16-hour days—he repeats one mantra when overwhelmed
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJanuary 15, 2026
20 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
California's wealth tax doesn't fix the real problem: Cash-poor billionaires who borrow money, tax-free, to live on
By Nick LichtenbergJanuary 14, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Politics
One year after Bill Gates surprised with the choice to close his foundation by 2045, he's cutting staff jobs
By Stephanie Beasley and The Associated PressJanuary 14, 2026
1 day ago

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.