Double tax – why women pay it and what to do about it | The Sound of Economics

Fixing gender inequality could reap big gains for the entire economy

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie sits down with economist Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman and Bruegel’s Marie-Sophie Lappe to discuss gender inequality and how economics can help to fix it. The data shows that it costs more to be a woman in society, especially a Black woman, in areas ranging from health care, to pension savings and workplace routines. These extra burdens drag the whole economy down – but this also means that progress towards gender equality can pull the whole economy up.

Related research:

Christie, R. (2023) ‘Taking up space’, European Commission
Christie, R. and M. De Ridder (2022) 'Closing the gender gap for self-employed women in the European Union’, Bruegel Blog, 20 July
Darvas, Z. (2025) ‘How has Europe’s gender wealth gap evolved, and why?’, Bruegel Newsletter, 03 November
Darvas, Z. and N. Ruer (2025) 'Gender wealth inequality in the European Union: a distributional perspective', Working Paper 26/2025, Bruegel
Darvas, Z., Kreko, J., A. Laczkovich and N. Ruer (2025) ‘Unequal wealth: Exploring socioeconomic disparities across the EU’, Eurofound
Goldin, C. (2025) ‘Babies and the macroeconomy’, Economica, 93:1-26
Lappe, M.S. and D. Pinkus (2025) ‘Europe’s savings debate should focus on the bigger picture’, First Glance, Bruegel, 11 September
Opoku-Agyeman, A. G. (2025) The Double Tax: How Women of Color Are Overcharged and Underpaid, Penguin Random House
Ostry, J. D. (2025) ‘Gender diversity and economic growth’, Working Paper 02/2025, Bruegel

Double tax – why women pay it and what to do about it

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