In conjunction with the Gates Foundation’s September 2022 SDG Goalkeepers Report, Melinda French Gates says that women’s economic progress has stalled—and not only because of the pandemic. “Over the years”, she writes, “efforts (including our foundation’s) to close this gap have centered around “women’s economic empowerment,” a shorthand for providing women with jobs or cash. These are proven ways to lift measures of economic equality—but even so, true economic power continues to elude millions of women. So we’ve got to keep asking questions: Once women have this money, can they actually spend it? Or do their husbands hold that power? When a woman secures a job, can she actually work and care for her children? Or is she set up to fail?” Access the full Goalkeepers report,