The movement towards gender equality has gone in the opposite direction - over the past year, the gap between men and women in the world has only increased, according to the annual study of the World Economic Forum "Global Gender Gap Report - 2017". The most serious gender gaps in their rights and opportunities are in the economy and healthcare. To achieve equality between men and women in the field of work around the world, according to experts, it will take 217 years, although a year ago it took 87 years.

In terms 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 terms of equality between men and women in the economy, our country ranks 5th (and first among the countries of Eastern Europe). The gender gap in our country has been overcome by 74.4%, 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. They estimate that gender equality could boost 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. With a 25% reduction in gender inequality in economic matters, the total GDP of all countries in the world could grow by $5.3 trillion by 2025.

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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 evaluating 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 the economic, political and other spheres, as well as trends in its change over time. According to the authors of the study, over the past decade, the world has moved very slowly towards the full potential of women. The index is designed to help countries find effective ways to bridge 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 the availability of all levels of education);
  3. Health and life expectancy (data on differences in healthy life expectancy and sex ratio at birth);
  4. Participation in political process (data on gender representation in government).

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 in one of the four indicated areas (sub-index). Then a composite Gender Inequality Index is constructed. The points scored by countries in the Gender Equity Index can be viewed as the percentage equivalent of the gap between men and women that has been closed, where 1 or 100% means complete equality and 0 means complete inequality.

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

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

Table 1. Indicators used in the construction of the Gender Inequality Index

Indicators

1) Economic activity and opportunities

The ratio of the level of employment of men and women;

The ratio of pay for men and women for equal work;

The ratio of women's and men's wages;

The ratio of men and women in the composition of legislators, officials and top managers;

The ratio of men and women among specialists;

2) Education

Male to female literacy ratio;

Ratio of enrollment of men and women in primary education;

Ratio of enrollment of men and women in secondary education;

Ratio of enrollment of men and women in higher education;

3) Health and longevity

The ratio of healthy life expectancy for men and women;

Sex ratio at birth*;

4) Participation in politics

The ratio of men and women in parliament;

The ratio of men and women in ministerial positions;

Number of years women have been heads of state (over the past 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 averages 106 boys to 100 girls.

According to a 2016 study, no country has achieved full equality between men and women. Is the biggest progress in health and education? the global values ​​of the respective sub-indices 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 (Fig. 1). The composite Gender Inequality Index was 68% in 2016.

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

100 - complete equality, 0 - complete inequality.

Throughout the years for which the Gender Inequality Index has been calculated, four countries have topped the world rankings: Sweden, Norway, Finland And Iceland, the latter holding the top spot for eight consecutive years. In 2016, the African Rwanda. The gap between women and men in the leading countries is less than 20% (Table 2). The separation of these countries is ensured, first of all, due to the highest values ​​of the sub-index of gender inequality in the political sphere, that is, there are 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 held by women, the highest in the world.

In 64 countries, the gender gap closing rate is between 70 and 80%. At the bottom of the world list are the countries that managed to close the gap only by 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 - the country's place in the global ranking

1 - complete equality, 0 - complete inequality.

See data for all countries.: http://reports.weforum.org/global-gender-gap-report-2016/results-and-analysis/

In terms of regions of the world, Western Europe has advanced the farthest along the path to the complete elimination of gender discrimination; it lacks 25% to complete equality (Fig. 3). The greatest gender disparity is observed in the Middle East and North Africa. The region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia is comparable to Latin America in terms of gender inequality.

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

Among the post-Soviet countries, apart from 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 posts in Moldova are held by women. Kazakhstan occupies 51st place in the global ranking.

Economic sub-index

Education sub-index

Health sub-index

Political sub-index

Meaning-
nie

Meaning-
nie

Meaning-
nie

Meaning-
nie

Moldova

Belarus

Kazakhstan

Kyrgyzstan

Azerbaijan

Tajikistan

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

The largest gender gap among the post-Soviet countries is characterized by Armenia (102nd in the world). In addition to the low values ​​of the sub-indices in the economic and political spheres, Armenia occupies the penultimate place in the world (China is in last place) according to the value of the health sub-index, 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 relationship between the level of gender equality and the economic performance of different countries, between the level of gender equality and the Human Development Index. It is emphasized that countries that want to remain competitive should consider gender equality as an integral part of their human capital development.

It will take at least 100 years to achieve equality between men and women, according to the Global Gender Gap Report 2017 published by the World Economic Forum (WEF). When determining the gap, an analysis of such indicators as active participation in the work of the company, education and political influence of people of different sexes was used. The authors of the report compared the situation of men and women in 144 countries.

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

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

At the same time, the gender gap can be bridged relatively easily in education: in general, more women than men are employed in this area, and the gap can be bridged in 13 years. In politics, for example, equality between the stronger and weaker sex can only be achieved after 99 years, while in the economic and medical spheres, this will take 217 years.

In terms of gender equality, we are ahead not only of European countries, but also of our 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.

So, 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 for the activity of women in politics: we are only in 121st place out of 144 possible.

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

The countries with the best gender equality are Iceland, Norway, Finland, Rwanda and Sweden. Iceland takes the first place for the ninth year in a row. However, even there there is no complete equality, as elsewhere 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.

Most of all in the world women are oppressed in Chad, Syria, Pakistan and Yemen.

As the authors of the report 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 provided that the gap will be reduced by only a quarter.

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

As the chapter 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, against artificial quotas, because, indeed, the spheres are different,” he said.

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

the salary of Russian women is 26% lower than that of men.

“Discrimination that we see from the numbers, it exists. I will say that almost everyone in the world notes that Russia has a uniquely high level of education among women, 37% of women in our country have higher education. Compared to men, this figure is only 29% among men. But at the same time, the level of women's salaries is only 73% of the average salary for men," Golodets said.

In a recent report, experts from the FBK Institute for Strategic Analysis explained the gender gap in wages (it is highest in the middle of a career - from 30 to 40 years old, according to a study by FBK - Gazeta.Ru) of Russian women due to different childcare regimes in our country and in developed countries . In Europe, as a rule, they take relatively short parental 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, women on average are on maternity leave from 9 to 14 months. As noted in the FBK study, employers often pre-determine the possibility of a long decree when determining salaries for women of childbearing age.

However, according to HeadHunter's head of research, in terms of vacancies, it is impossible to track whether the pay of men and women in Russia differs, because employers do not indicate gender due to discrimination law. However, if you look at the expectations of applicants, then women, as a rule, ask for a salary for similar positions for 20% less. 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."

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 - perfect equality. At the same time, the index includes four groups of indicators: economic participation and opportunities, 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, women's to men's income ratios, and their ratio among managers and professional staff. In the second, the shares of women and men at three levels of education and the ratio of their literacy rates. The third includes the distribution of sexes at birth and the life expectancy of men and women. The latter includes participation rates for men and women in parliament, at the ministerial level and at the head of state level (over the past 50 years).

The index value for Russia was 0.696. The political aspect pulls down Russian indicators the most - the corresponding sub-index is only 0.085, and Russia was only 121st in it - with great success in the field of education and women's health: these sub-indices amounted to 0.997 and 0.98 and slightly exceed even the indicators of the rating leader , Iceland (0.995 and 0.969, respectively). In terms of health and survival, Russia generally ranks first along with 33 other countries. Iceland at the same time received an overall score of 0.878, while the economic and political sub-indices for this country amounted to 0.798 and 0.75. Russia in the economic dimension scored 0.724.

The global result is 0.68, that is, on average, for all four components of the index, a 32% gap in the opportunities of the sexes remains in the world. In 2016, this figure was 31.7%. At the same time, if the gap in the field of education and health care is 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 rate since 2008, and only 23% in the political sphere.

According to WEF analysts, with the 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 after 100 years - a year earlier, the forecast was 83 years. Even though the biggest gap is in political indicators, they are also the fastest to improve, so we can expect equality here in 99 years. Closing the economic divide remains the biggest challenge – under current conditions, it will take a whopping 217 years to achieve this. At the same time, WEF analysts write that, according to the latest estimates, the global economy could receive an additional $ 5.3 trillion by 2025 if it was possible to reduce the gap in the economic participation of the two sexes by 25%. Things are much more optimistic on the educational front: the gender gap in terms of access to education can be reduced to nothing in 13 years.

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