A/HRC/26/39 27. The 2013 World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report shows that, although globally almost 93 per cent of the gap in educational attainment has been closed, the gender gap in economic participation and political empowerment remains wide, with only 60 per cent of the economic outcomes gap and only 21 per cent of the political outcomes gap closed. 28. Vulnerability and economic disadvantage for women are exacerbated by macroeconomic policies that increase inequalities and reduce social protection floors. This is clearly visible in periods of economic crisis, particularly where governments adopt austerity measures. Although the specific effects of the crisis differ by context, the overall picture is one of disparate impact on women, with deepening economic insecurity, an increase in precarious employment and a heavier burden of unpaid care work. Nonetheless, economic crisis merely accentuates existing structural economic disadvantages for women. Therefore, addressing the crisis provides an opportunity to tackle patterns of gender inequality and discrimination entrenched in the economic status quo and shape new gender equality policy responses. 29. Research suggests that in general men have more economic security to weather an economic crisis, having higher paying jobs with benefits such as health care and pensions, unemployment insurance coverage, and owning more property. Furthermore, in many crisis countries, women are disparately made redundant by a reduction in public service jobs. In times of financial crisis, social security guarantees are often undermined by austerity measures. The reduction of budgets for care facilities, unemployment benefits, income maintenance and pensions all disparately impact women, who are usually responsible for unpaid care functions and who constitute a majority of the poor. The Bachelet Report and reports by the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights emphasize the role of social protection in cushioning the impact of the economic crisis, particularly for women. 30. Alternatives to austerity have been applied successfully in some countries. Countercyclical approaches in general have helped reduce the depth and duration of the impact and leverage a more rapid recovery. The Swedish recovery programme focused on avoiding labour market exclusion, particularly for women, and maintaining paid parental leave and day-care subsidies, recognized as particularly beneficial to women workers. Iceland stands out as a pioneer in adopting policies to protect women in the recent crisis, mainstreaming gender in its recovery measures, and appointing a working group to evaluate the impact of the economic crisis from a gender perspective and ensure that gender equality principles are reflected in State-led initiatives to restore the economy.6 31. The lessons learned from the economic crisis and the impact of macroeconomic policies on women’s economic opportunities can and should inform the post-2015 agenda. Grounding development priorities in women’s human rights is not only a legal and moral imperative, but can also enhance effectiveness and accountability. In accordance with the proposal of UN-Women that gender equality must both be mainstreamed into all development goals and also remain a stand-alone goal, the Working Group recommends that transformative structural change as regards unpaid care functions be duly taken into account in a stand-alone goal of gender equality. 6 8 See A/HRC/26/39/Add.1.