Global Gender Gap Report

Global Gender Gap Report annually benchmarks the current state and evolution of gender parity across four key dimensions. It is the longest-standing index tracking the progress of numerous countries’ efforts toward closing these gaps over time since its inception in 2006. Read here to learn more about the latest report.

India is now placed 127 out of 146 nations in terms of gender parity, up from 135 last year, according to the annual Global Gender Gap Report, 2023. The fact that the gender gap has closed by 64.3% is an improvement, but this is hardly a reason for celebration.

India scores quite low in terms of ensuring equal access for men and women to economic participation and opportunity, with less than 40% parity.

On the one hand, there are increases in salary and income parity, yet the percentages of women in technical and senior posts have decreased.

Global Gender Gap Report

The Global Gender Gap Index annually benchmarks the current state and evolution of gender parity across four key dimensions (Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment).

It is published annually by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

It is the longest-standing index tracking the progress of numerous countries’ efforts toward closing these gaps over time since its inception in 2006.

The 2023 one is the 17th edition of the Global Gender Gap Index that benchmarks gender parity across 146 countries, providing a basis for robust cross-country analysis.

• The Global Gender Gap Index measures scores on a 0 to 100 scale and scores can be interpreted as the distance covered towards parity (i.e., the percentage of the gender gap that has been closed).
• Cross-country comparisons support the identification of the most effective policies to close gender gaps.

Global Gender Gap Report 2023: Key Findings

The global gender gap score in 2023 for all 146 countries included in this edition stands at 68.4% closed. According to the 2023 Global Gender Gap Index-

• No country has yet achieved full gender parity, although the top nine countries (Iceland, Norway, Finland, New Zealand, Sweden, Germany, Nicaragua, Namibia, and Lithuania) have closed at least 80% of their gap.
• For the 14th year running, Iceland (91.2%) takes the top position. It also continues to be the only country to have closed more than 90% of its gender gap.
• For the 146 countries covered in the 2023 index, the Health and Survival gender gap has closed by 96%, the Educational Attainment gap by 95.2%, the Economic Participation and Opportunity gap by 60.1%, and the Political Empowerment gap by 22.1%.

At the current rate of progress over the 2006-2023 span, it will take 162 years to close the Political Empowerment gender gap, 169 years for the Economic Participation and Opportunity gender gap, and 16 years for the Educational Attainment gender gap.

The time to close the Health and Survival gender gap remains undefined.

Gender gaps in the global labor market

The state of gender parity in the labor market remains a major challenge. Not only has women’s participation in the labor market globally slipped in recent years, but other markers of economic opportunity have been showing substantive disparities between women and men.

• Between the 2022 and 2023 editions, parity in the labor-force participation rate increased from 63% to 64%.
• Women continue to face higher unemployment rates than men, with a global unemployment rate of around 4.5% for women and 4.3% for men.
• The share of women ’s representation in the workforce and leadership across industries is skewed at 32.2%- nearly 10 percentage points lower.
• Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) occupations are an important set of jobs that are well-remunerated and expected to grow in significance and scope in the future.
• Women make up almost half (49.3%) of total employment across non-STEM occupations, but just 29.2% of all STEM workers.

Gender Gaps in Political Leadership

Much like in the case of the representation of women in business leadership, gender gaps in political leadership continue to persist.

• Although there has been an increase in the number of women holding political decision-making posts worldwide, achieving gender parity remains a distant goal and regional disparities are significant.
• As of 31 December 2022, approximately 27.9% of the global population, equivalent to 2.12 billion people, live in countries with a female head of state.
• By 2022, the share of women in parliaments has risen steadily to 22.9%. Significant strides have also been made in terms of women’s representation in local government globally.
• Out of the 117 countries with available data since 2017, 18 countries, including Bolivia (50.4%), India (44.4%), and France (42.3%), have achieved representation of women of over 40% in local governance.

Also read: Gender Pay Parity

India and Gender Gap Report

India is now ranked 127 out of 146 nations in terms of gender parity, up from 135 last year, according to the annual Gender Gap Report, 2023.

• The fact that the gender gap has closed by 64.3% is an improvement, but this is hardly a reason for celebration.

India has a window of opportunity to improve in each of the index’s four key metrics- economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment- so that one-half of the world’s most populous nation can contribute to the economy, growth, and general well-being of society.

Thanks to local initiatives after the 73rd and 74th amendments, India has made progress in education and political empowerment, with a representation of women of over 40% in local administration.

• However, just 15.1% of lawmakers are female, which is “the highest for India since the first edition in 2006.”
• This ought to motivate Parliament to move the issue forward by passing the long-delayed Women’s Reservation Bill, which calls for allocating 33% of the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies’ seats to women. The bill was originally presented in the House back in 1996.
• Take into account the following to grasp the current situation of women’s involvement in politics: Only in 2023 did Nagaland, which was established as a state in 1963, elect its first two female legislators.

India scores quite low in terms of ensuring equal access for men and women to economic participation and opportunity, with less than 40% parity.

• On the one hand, there are increases in salary and income parity, yet the percentages of women in technical and senior posts have decreased.
• Although an improvement in the sex ratio at birth has increased parity after more than a decade of modest development, India’s performance in terms of health and survival remains a cause for worry.
• Girls must have access to education at all stages of secondary and postsecondary education, and they also require paid employment.
• Many women lack the time and energy to choose a paid job because they wind up performing so much unpaid work at home.
• All development indicators, including nutrition, would immediately improve if females have access to a job-assured education.
• This will also end the cycle of early marriage leading to poor mother and child health.

If the pandemic exposed the frailty of life, it was exponentially harsher for women because of the decline in their labor force participation rates, which affected household earnings.

• Even when they do find employment, women are frequently restricted by patriarchal and cultural standards; in addition, there are significant safety issues.
• Although the pandemic may have slowed down efforts to close the gender pay gap by 2030, progress must still be made.

Also read: Names of Reports published by Organisations: Memorize Faster

Way forward

In the private sector, the scope of gender parity action by pioneering firms has begun to broaden from a focus on the workforce to whole-of-business approaches encompassing inclusive design, inclusive supply chains, and community impact.

Increasing women’s economic participation and achieving gender parity in leadership, in both business and government, are two key levers for addressing broader gender gaps in households, societies, and economies.

Collective, coordinated, and bold action by private- and public-sector leaders will be instrumental in accelerating progress toward gender parity and igniting renewed growth and greater resilience.

Recent years have seen major setbacks and the state of gender parity still varies widely by company, industry, and economy. Yet, a growing number of actors have recognized the importance and urgency of taking action, and evidence of effective gender parity initiatives is solidifying.

Read: Gender health gap

-Article by Swathi Satish