Belarus took second place among Eastern European countries in the gender equality ranking. World Gender Equality Index Which countries have gender equality?

The World Economic Forum (WEF) Gender Gap Index has been calculated since 2006, its value reflects the progress of countries in the field of gender equality and ranges from zero to one - where zero corresponds to complete inequality and one to perfect equality. However, the index includes four groups of indicators: economic participation and opportunity, educational outcomes, health and survival, and, finally, political participation. The first takes into account factors such as women's labor force participation, the wage gap, the income ratio of women and men, and the ratio of their numbers among managers and professional staff. The second shows the shares of women and men at three levels of education and the ratio of their literacy rates. The third includes sex distribution at birth and life expectancy of men and women. The latter includes indicators of the participation of men and women in parliament, at the ministerial level and at the level of the head of state (over the last 50 years).

The index value for Russia was 0.696. The biggest drag on Russian indicators is the political aspect - the corresponding subindex is only 0.085, and Russia is only 121st on it - with great success in the field of education and women's health: these subindices amounted to 0.997 and 0.98 and are slightly higher than even the indicators of the leader of the rating, Iceland (0.995 and 0.969, respectively). In terms of health and survival, Russia generally ranks first, along with 33 other countries. Iceland received an overall score of 0.878, and the economic and political subindexes for this country were 0.798 and 0.75. In economic terms, Russia scored 0.724.

The global result is 0.68, which means that on average across all four components of the index, the world remains at a 32% gender opportunity gap. In 2016, this figure was 31.7%. Moreover, if the gap in the field of education and health care has been practically eliminated - the index for these groups is 0.95 and 0.96, respectively, then in the field of economics and politics it remains at a significant level: only 58% of the gap in the field of economics has been eliminated, which has become the lowest figure since 2008, and only 23% in the political sphere.

According to WEF analysts, with current dynamics, the gender gap in 106 countries that have been included in the rating since its inception in 2006 will be completely eliminated only in 100 years - a year earlier the forecast was 83 years. Although the gap is greatest in political indicators, they are also the fastest to improve, so equality could be expected in 99 years. The biggest challenge remains closing the economic gap - which, under current conditions, will take as much as 217 years to achieve. At the same time, WEF analysts write that, according to the latest estimates, world economy could generate an additional $5.3 trillion by 2025 if it could close the gender participation gap by 25%. Things are much more optimistic on the educational front: the gender gap in access to education can be eliminated in 13 years.

WEF, together with professional social network LinkedIn, also analyzed the distribution of jobs and found that men are underrepresented in fields such as education, health and social work, while women are underrepresented in engineering, manufacturing, construction and information technology. According to the authors, existing gender bias limits the potential pool of candidates for vacancies, and a number of economic sectors are losing out because of this.

The movement towards gender equality has gone in the opposite direction - behind Last year The gap between men and women around the world has only widened, according to the World Economic Forum's annual Global Gender Gap Report 2017. The most serious gender gaps in their rights and opportunities are in the economy and health care. To achieve equality between men and women in the world of work, according to experts, it will take 217 years, although just a year ago it took 87 years.

In matters of gender equality, the countries of Northern Europe (Iceland, Norway, Finland, Sweden) and the countries of Africa and Central America (Rwanda, Nicaragua) are leading.

Belarus is in 26th place, although in matters of equality between men and women in the economy, our country ranks 5th (and first among Eastern European countries). The gender gap in our country has been closed by 74.4%, and in matters of equal pay - by 82.7%.

According to the authors of the study, achieving equality between men and women will have a positive impact on the economies of countries and will help solve the problems that certain regions face. According to their calculations, gender equality could increase China's GDP by $2.5 trillion, the US by $1.75 trillion, the UK by $250 billion, France by $320 billion, and Germany by $310 billion. If gender inequality in economic matters were reduced by 25%, the total GDP of all countries in the world could grow by $5.3 trillion by 2025.

Read also

Gender in the labor market: why women are paid less, and maternity leave never became “dad’s” leave

Achieving equality between men and women will take at least 100 years, according to the Global Gender Gap Report 2017, published by the World Economic Forum (WEF). The gap was determined by analyzing indicators such as active participation in the company, education and political influence of people of different genders. The report's authors compared the situation of men and women in 144 countries.

For the first time since 2006, they noted a setback in progress towards true gender equality. Last year, according to WEF calculations, this would have taken 83 years.

Gender equality indicators have worsened in four main areas: education, health and survival, economics and careers, and political rights.

At the same time, the gender gap can be overcome relatively easily in education: in general, there are more women than men, and the gap can be closed in just 13 years. In politics, for example, equality between the stronger and weaker sex can be achieved only after 99 years, but in the economic and medical sphere it will take 217 years.

When it comes to gender equality, it’s not just European countries, but also neighbors in the post-Soviet space: Ukraine (61st place), Belarus (26th), Kazakhstan (52nd) and most Latin American countries: Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela, Argentina, Panama.

In general, over the past year our country has risen four steps in the ranking.

Thus, in terms of medical indicators, that is, in terms of life expectancy for men and women and infant mortality, Russia occupies a leading position in the ranking. At the same time, Russia has a low indicator of women’s activity in politics: we are only in 121st place out of 144 possible.

Considering the activity of women running for the post of President of the Russian Federation, perhaps our country will have a chance to rise in the rankings in the next ranking.

The best countries for gender equality are Iceland, Norway, Finland, Rwanda and Sweden. Iceland takes first place for the ninth year in a row. However, there is no complete equality there, just like nowhere else in the world. Norway ranks second in terms of gender equality. The top ten countries where everything is good with women’s rights also included Nicaragua, Slovenia, Ireland, New Zealand and the Philippines.

The countries where women are most oppressed in the world are Chad, Syria, Pakistan and Yemen.

As the report's authors explain, addressing gender inequality can bring huge dividends to countries. WEF analysts estimate the total global economic effect at more than $5 trillion by 2025. And this is assuming that the gap is reduced by only a quarter.

The “women's issue” has been troubling the Russian authorities for a long time: recently this problem has been regularly discussed by officials. For example, in March of this year, the “National Strategy of Action for Women for 2017-2022” was adopted. The document says that the priority direction is “creating conditions for the full and equal participation of women in the political, economic, social and cultural spheres life of society." The implementation of the strategy should take place in two stages and will be financed within the framework of existing government programs. The authorities, in particular, intend to increase the share of women in legislative bodies to 30% by 2022.

As the head of Russia stated in September, the role of women in the global economy is steadily growing and it is necessary to provide women with the opportunity to realize themselves. At the same time, he spoke out against artificial quotas for women in government. “On the one hand, I support the view that a mix of men and women leads to optimal results. But, on the other hand, we are against artificial quotas, because, indeed, the spheres are different,” he said.

As Deputy Prime Minister Olga stated in September at a meeting of the coordination council for the implementation of the national strategy of action in the interests of women for 2017-2022,

Russian women's wages are 26% lower than those of men.

“The discrimination that we see from the numbers, it exists. I will say that almost everyone in the world notes that Russia has a unique high level education among women, 37% of our women have higher education. If compared with men, then among men this figure is only 29%. But at the same time, the level of women’s salaries is only 73% of the average salary of men,” Golodets said.

Experts from the FBK Institute for Strategic Analysis explained in a recent report the gender gap in wages (it is highest in mid-career - from 30 to 40 years old, according to an FBK study - Gazeta.Ru) of Russian women by different child care regimes in our country and in developed countries . In Europe, as a rule, people take relatively short maternity leave: for example, in Slovenia, Norway, Portugal and Denmark, the break from work is less than a month. At the same time, women from Estonia, Slovakia, Austria, Sweden, Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic stay at home with their children for about six months. And in Russia, on average, women are on maternity leave from 9 to 14 months. As noted in the FBK study, employers often factor in the possibility of a long maternity leave in advance when determining salaries for women of childbearing age.

However, as the head of the research service HeadHunter says, in terms of vacancies, it is impossible to track whether pay differs between men and women in Russia, because employers do not indicate gender due to discrimination laws. However, if you look at the expectations of applicants, women, as a rule, ask for a salary of 20% less for similar positions. According to Maria Ignatova, this may be due to the fact that “women have a certain time limit that they are willing to devote to work.”

Every year, experts from the World Economic Forum analytical group compile ranking of countries in the world by level of gender equality. To determine how equal women and men are in their rights and opportunities, 14 different indicators are used.

In 2012, the study covered 135 countries. Russia occupies only 59th place in the ranking. Experts believe that in our country women do not have sufficient influence in the economic and political life, they have fewer career opportunities and lower wages. Yemen occupies the last line in the ranking.

Our top ten represents countries that have taken leading positions in terms of gender equality.

10. Switzerland

Surprisingly, until 1961, it was Switzerland that remained the last European republic where women did not have the right to vote. It is clear that women have made significant strides in terms of equality over the years - Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf was elected president of the country for the third time in a row in 2011.

9. Nicaragua

No other state of Central and South America does not demonstrate the same gender equality as Nicaragua. Women here actively participate in public life - in parliament, about 20% of seats are occupied by ladies.

8. Philippines

Until 2010, the country was led by a female president. Despite the fact that all over the world Filipinas are considered modest and submissive, in their homeland they have enough rights on an equal basis with men. They simply wisely choose not to proclaim gender equality everywhere.

7. Denmark

The charming Helle Thorning-Schmitt has held the title of Prime Minister of the country since 2011. And Queen Margrethe II has been the head of this monarchical state since 1972. So, in relation to Denmark, we can say that in this country men are more likely to show concern for gender equality.

6. New Zealand

The share of women in the country's cabinet of ministers is almost 30%, in parliament – ​​33%. By the way, New Zealand is one of the rare countries where the number of men is almost equal to the number of women.

5. Ireland

About a fifth of the country's government is women. Ladies here received the right to vote in 1918. Today, Irish women are considered much more emancipated in Europe than natives of neighboring Great Britain.

4. Sweden

The Nordic countries have traditionally been renowned for their level of gender equality. There is an unprecedented fact in the history of Sweden when, from 1718 to 1771, women's suffrage was introduced in the country. Today, 44% of the Swedish parliament is women, and 45% of government members are also women. fair half humanity.

3. Norway

In the country's government, more than half of the ministers are women, while the top positions are still occupied by men. The level of wages between men and women differs, but not significantly - the difference on average is less than a thousand Euros per year.

2. Finland

Finnish women began the fight for gender equality as part of Russian Empire. It was the Grand Duchy of Finland that became the first region of the huge power where women's suffrage was introduced in 1907. Today, the share of women in the country’s parliament is 40%, in the government – ​​63%. Until March 2012, the president of the republic was Tarja Halonen, who held this post for 12 years.

1. Iceland

This northern country has become a leader ranking of countries in the world by gender equality. As in New Zealand, the number of men and women in the country's population is approximately equal in all age groups. Currently, the head of state is a man, President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, and the head of government is a woman, Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir.

Gender Inequality Index - 2016

The non-governmental organization World Economic Forum (WEF) has proposed a quantitative measure of gender equality - the Gender Inequality Index ( Gender Gap Index). Since 2006, WEF analysts have been assessing the values ​​of this Index for most countries of the world; the next report was published at the end of 2016. The index takes into account the gap between men and women in economic, political and other spheres, as well as its trends over time. According to the study's authors, over the past decade the world has moved very slowly towards realizing the full potential of women. The index aims to help countries find effective ways to close the gender gap.

The methodology for calculating the Index has not changed. Since the very first report, the gender gap has been assessed in four critical areas of inequality between men and women:

1. Participation and opportunities in economic sphere (data on the wage gap between men and women, participation in decision-making, access to highly skilled employment, etc.);
2. Education(data on gender differences in access to all levels of education);
3. Health and life expectancy (data on differences in life expectancy healthy life and sex ratio at birth);
4. Participation in political process (data on gender representation in government bodies).

When constructing the Gender Inequality Index, 14 parameters are used (see Table 1). Each indicator is included with a certain weight in the intermediate index for one of the four specified areas (subindex). A summary Gender Inequality Index is then constructed. Countries' scores on the Gender Equality Index can be thought of as the percentage equivalent of the gap between men and women closed, with 1 or 100% representing complete equality and 0 representing complete inequality.

The authors of the study emphasize that the index reflects precisely the gap between the sexes, regardless of the level of a particular indicator. For example, a country in which the educational attainment of men and women is equally low will have a high index value because there are no gender differences in access to education.

The WEF's 2016 Gender Inequality Report includes data from 144 countries, with 107 countries included in all surveys since 2006.

Table 1. Indicators used to construct the Gender Inequality Index

	Indicators
1) Economic activity and opportunities	Ratio of employment rates between men and women;
	Ratio of pay between men and women for equal work;
	Female to male ratio wages;
	The ratio of men and women among legislators, officials and senior managers;
	The ratio of men and women among specialists;
2) Education	Male to female literacy ratio;
	Male to female coverage ratio primary education;
	Ratio of male to female enrollment in secondary education;
	Male to female coverage ratio higher education;
3) Health and life expectancy	The ratio of healthy life expectancy between men and women;
	Sex ratio at birth*;
4) Participation in politics	Ratio of men and women in parliament;
	Ratio of men and women in ministerial positions;
	Number of years women have been heads of state (over the last 50 years)

* the criterion of equality in this case is not 1, but 0.944, since for most populations the natural sex ratio at birth is on average 106 boys per 100 girls.

According to a 2016 study, no country has achieved full equality between men and women. Is the greatest progress being seen in health and education? the global values ​​of the corresponding subindices are 96 and 95% (that is, the gender gap has been closed by 96 and 95%, respectively). The gender gap in the economic and political spheres remains significant – 59 and 23%, respectively (Figure 1). The consolidated Gender Inequality Index was 68% in 2016.

Figure 1. Global sub-indices of gender inequality in four areas,
2016

100 – complete equality, 0 – complete inequality.

Throughout all the years for which the Gender Inequality Index was calculated, four countries top the world rankings: Sweden, Norway, Finland And Iceland, the latter occupying the first place for eight years in a row. In 2016, Africa also made it into the top five countries. Rwanda. The gap between women and men in the top countries is less than 20% (Table 2). The separation of these countries is ensured, first of all, due to the highest values ​​of the subindex of gender inequality in the political sphere, that is, they have the smallest differences in the world in the degree of participation of men and women in government and management. In Rwanda, 64% of parliamentary seats are occupied by women, the highest percentage in the world.

In 64 countries, the gender gap has been closed between 70 and 80%. At the bottom of the world list are countries that managed to reduce the gap by only 50-60%, these include Yemen (0.516), Pakistan (0.556), Syria (0.567), Saudi Arabia(0.583), Chad (0.587), Iran (0.587) and a number of other countries.

Figure 2. Gender Inequality Index, 2016. In brackets is the country’s place in the global ranking

1 – complete equality, 0 – complete inequality.

For data on all countries, see.: http://reports.weforum.org/global-gender-gap-report-2016/results-and-analysis/

Among the regions of the world that have advanced the furthest towards the complete elimination of gender discrimination Western Europe, it is 25% short of complete equality (Fig. 3). The greatest gender inequality is found in the Middle East and North Africa. The Eastern Europe and Central Asia region has levels of gender inequality comparable to Latin America.

Figure 3. The size of the gender gap in regions of the world, %. 2016

Among the post-Soviet countries, not counting the Baltic states, the best situation is in Moldova (26th place) and Belarus (30th place). Both countries show progress in the economic sphere, and Moldova looks better than other post-Soviet countries in terms of women's participation in the political process (Table 2). 28% of ministerial positions in Moldova are held by women. Kazakhstan ranks 51st in the global ranking.

	Economic sub-index		Educational subindex		Health sub-index		Political subindex
	Meaning- tion		Meaning- tion		Meaning- tion		Meaning- tion
Moldova
Belarus
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Azerbaijan
Tajikistan

Russiaall years occupied low positions in the ranked number of countries; in 2016, our country was in 75th place out of 144. In Russia, gender discrimination in the economy persists (large differences in wages between men and women), but things are especially bad in the political sphere, the political sub-index is only 7% compared to the world average value of 23%. At the time of calculating the Gender Inequality Index in the Russian Federation, only 14% of seats in parliament belonged to women, and in ministerial positions the share of women was even less - 6%.

Armenia has the largest gender gap among post-Soviet countries (102nd place in the world). In addition to the low values ​​of sub-indices in the economic and political spheres, Armenia ranks second to last in the world (at last place- China) according to the health sub-index value, mainly due to the disturbed (in favor of boys) sex ratio at birth.

The WEF report also presents the results of a number of studies showing the existence of a connection between the level of gender equality and economic indicators of different countries, between the level of gender equality and the Human Development Index. It is emphasized that countries that want to remain competitive must consider gender equality as an integral part of their human capital development.