A/HRC/44/51 24. However, the impact of digitalization on the quality of work has received less attention. Where opportunities become available to women through the gig economy, there is also a risk that this may deepen structural discrimination by reinforcing gender stereotypes and the expectation that women should only undertake paid work within the confines of the home. The online economy is not automatically going to be more inclusive of women than the offline economy. Women represent only one out of every three crowdworkers on digital platforms, with the gender balance being particularly skewed in developing countries.18 Furthermore, rather than being a source of decent work, the growth of digital platforms, including the gig economy, will likely contribute to increasing women’s economic inequality by increasing the informalization of women’s work due to gaps in existing labour regulations and a lack of access to social protection. In fact, the gig economy is an expansion of the kind of informal work which women have traditionally undertaken, for example women piece workers, but without the technology platform. As such, online platforms risk substituting the traditional “sweatshop” for a digital one. 25. Automation is likely to contribute to greater economic inequality for women, with the most vulnerable groups of women being most affected. Workers who perform more routine tasks are at greater risk of potential replacement by robots and artificial intelligence, and the data for the global North shows that women have a 13 per cent higher chance than men of being in occupations and sectors that involve more routine tasks. Workers with a lower level of education have the highest chance (40 per cent) of seeing their activities being automated, while only 5 per cent of workers with a tertiary degree face the same risk.19 Given that labour markets are continuously transformed by technological innovation, automation is also likely to contribute to growing polarization in the job market, with women in richer countries having a comparative advantage over women in poorer countries because of their higher levels of education and digital literacy. 20 26. A major challenge for women’s employment in the context of technological change is the underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education and employment. Deeply entrenched stereotypes and discrimination in education limit girls’ aspirations for careers in these areas, and masculinist workplace cultures in related organizations exclude and discriminate against women, often pushing them to leave science, technology, engineering and mathematics jobs at a higher rate than men. The poor representation of women in technology also means that technology is designed to entrench a male-dominated world view, rather than being designed to be inclusive of women. 27. Much of the discussion regarding technology and work also assumes that technological developments benefit all countries equally and are equally accessed by women and men. However, the gender digital divide persists across several regions and in many parts of the world men still control women’s access to ICT. 28. Technological developments have also created new risks and challenges related to inclusion, safety, privacy, accountability and transparency, including the heightened exposure of women and girls to the risk of violence and abuse in technology-enabled spaces. Increasing monitoring, surveillance and data collection from workers using new technologies risks exacerbating discrimination against women, as algorithmic management use a one-size-fits-all model, without attention to gender dynamics and discrimination in the workplace. Demographic change 29. Major demographic trends, such as population ageing and migration, have significant implications for gender equality. By 2050, 16 per cent of the world’s population will be over the age of 65, up from 9 per cent in 2019. Long-term care of the elderly is still 18 19 20 ILO, Digital Labour Platforms and the Future of Work: Towards Decent Work in the Online World (Geneva, 2018). Jacques Charmes, “The human rights of women informal workers in the changing world of work: impact of technological changes”, background paper, October 2019. Available from www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WGWomen/Pages/WomenChangingWorldofWork.aspx. Ibid. 7