The BBC reports on this year’s Gender Gap report published by the World Economic Forum which shows a narrowing of the gender gap worldwide. 105 companies have seen improvements and Rwanda becomes African’s newest entry, right in at number 7, reflective of its high female participation in the workforce.
It’s worth having a look at the full report and individual country profiles.
Rwanda finds itself a whole 19 places above the UK. While we do ok on health and education, our gender pay gap is not good, and neither is our female participation in politics. We also get extra points because we have a female head of state which, if things continue as they are at present, will not be the case within, most likely, the next decade and a half.
I found it interesting that the USA is a whole 6 places above us when our parental leave system is so much better. I mean, it exists. Most women in the US go back to work within 6 weeks to 3 months of giving birth and without any entitlement to pay during that period. I was surprised to see that Iceland, who came top, has only 90 days paid leave while Norway, in 3rd, has 36-46 weeks although that’s not reflected in the individual country profiles.
India has a big fall to 114th after the horrific rapes of women on public transport.
Down the bottom, you’d expect to find places like Saudi Arabia where women aren’t even allowed to drive and Yemen. Saudi, though, has had one of the biggest cumulative rises in the 9 years the report has been compiled but it started from a very low base. Somalia doesn’t even make it onto the table but wouldn’t be very high. Lynne Featherstone wrote about her experiences there over on the Liberal Democrat website. Her post is well worth reading:
I asked a group of women at a maternal health clinic whether they had suffered domestic violence. Silence. But when I asked whether they knew any women who had been beaten by their husbands, every one of them put up their hand.
The girls’ club told me that the right to beat one’s wife was a widely accepted social norm. But when I asked whether they felt it was a good social norm, they were vehement in their answer: absolutely not.
It’s through young leaders such as these girls that we can really change the future. If these girls refuse to cut their daughters, the cycle ends. If these girls speak out against domestic violence, it can end too.
There are some interesting accompanying blogs on the site. One of the authors of the Global Report, Saadia Zahidi looks to 2095 as the year we can look forward to equality, maybe and talks about why it’s important that we get on with it:
Healthy and educated women are likely to have healthier and more educated children, creating a virtuous cycle for any community or country. When the number of women involved in political decision-making reaches a critical mass, their decisions – which take into account the needs of a wider segment of society – lead to more inclusive results. Companies that recruit and retain women, and ensure that they attain leadership positions, outperform those that do not. The report covers the latest research on the benefits of gender equality from a variety of sectors, the current use of policy tools and business practices, and future implications for business leaders and policy-makers.
And there’s this piece from an Indian perspective that talks about getting women into the workplace and ending violence and forced marriage, and aspiring to the Nordic example.
Let’s hope it doesn’t take almost a century to deliver that sort of standard of equality for all women round the world.
Another factor I thought was interesting was that in each country’s profile they looked at the number of minutes of unpaid work that women do. a day on average. We’re on 258 minutes. That’s over 4 hours. Every day. But it’s only 26 minutes less in second placed Finland.
I’d strongly recommend you have a good look round the report and the associated blogs. Let us know what you think in the comments.
Photo of Climbing bean production in Rwanda by CIAT
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social
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7 Comments
It’s certainly important to look at the full report, and particularly to remember the ratings are made on the basis of criteria, and the criteria can of course be contested. It’s perhaps also worth while remembering that the wellbeing of different genders depends, not only on the gap, but also on the average. A person who is relatively disadvantaged in a rich country may nevertheless be well off in comparison to a person is relatively advantaged in a poor one.
Your surprises about Iceland, Norway, and Saudi are all essentially simply because you have different criteria than the report writers. Who has the more appropriate criteria? We probably can’t tell if they’re not listed. The Head of State is a good example. Our Head of State has no real political power, so why should we get points because she is female?
Talk about “unpaid work” is unfair. It is mainly men who pay the mortgages, so should we also be looking at a “bill gap”?
I’m getting really tired of this narrative of female oppression. Gender roles have existed for thousands of years and the idea they are going to all be eliminated is not true.
Honestly, I try hard to be fair and people failing to look at both sides of the story is creating small levels of resentment…
@Eddie Sammon “Gender roles have existed for thousands of years”
Aren’t yu really a Conservative? 🙂
Hi Igor, no, I know you say it light heartedly, but please can no one ridicule or shout at me over this topic. I try my hardest to be fair on it and when that is not good enough it can break me down, which it has in the past. Your comment didn’t hurt me, but this is a very sensitive subject for me, especially at the moment, when I’m stressed out with other things. I don’t believe in conservative levels of gender roles.
Caron, according to someone in the Guardian the Lib Dems make it their “core business” to ensure women never feel equal. Can you not see how hurtful these statements are? I know other people’s statements can be hurtful too, but I want to know if you can see that these statements are hurtful?
It’s not fair to introduce 50-50 quotas in boardrooms and parliament, but leave men to do the majority of fighting on the front line. We don’t enjoy fighting, but we feel we have to out of duty. I was thinking of joining the Army Reserves recently, I never did, but even the idea of it gave me three vicious nightmares of IS coming to get me. War has a big physical and psychological affect on men and statements that call us oppressors are hurtful. A lot men make the ultimate self-sacrifice for women.
Eddie Sammon
‘ I’m getting really tired of this narrative of female oppression.’
If a women is not educated there is a high likelihood her children will be uneducated. The report shows a clear and defined link. It’s a fact that women are more likely to be assaulted/killed by their male partner than a male is by a female. We cannot turn away as a party and ignore half the population – whether you are tired of the narrative or not.
‘ Gender roles have existed for thousands of years and the idea they are going to all be eliminated is not true.’
My view is that equality should not mean no diversity – women are not men and shouldn’t try to emulate male working practices. We need female friendly workplaces ie: quality affordable, childcare but no forcing back to work too soon after childbirth – no to egg freezing as a means of climbing up the greasy pole (this is a new form of oppression, in my view) – and equality of pay for equal roles.
Hi Helen, I don’t doubt that plenty of women are oppressed, but for me too much of the argument has become “most women are oppressed” and that is basically calling the male population oppressors and some of us find that hurtful.
I mean genuinely hurtful. I have to remind myself that people are nice really, because when I read the media I think less of the world. I can’t imagine how it must feel like to be an immigrant in the UK at the moment. Sometimes the media and political climate can feel as though it is ganging up on sections of society and we need to avoid that feeling everywhere.