Global Gender Gap Index, 2017

The Global Gender Gap Index is a report prepared by the World Economic Forum of 144 countries on the basis of predetermined criteria. The purpose of the report is to compare the level of gender parity of the countries. This has been developed taking into consideration the fact that gender parity is one of the fundamental requirements of a economically and socially forward society owing to the interest of almost half of the human population.

The Index was introduced in 2006 in order to capture the magnitude of gender disparities across the world and the improvements if any being made with the progress of society and time. It is based on the economic, health, political and education criteria of the nations. It aims to create awareness about the disparities that can occur owing to gender gaps in societies and the oppurtunities that can be created for an economy due to reduced gender gap.

Composition/Methodology

The mechanism follows a cross-country and time-series analysis. The selected criteria are calculated by obtaining values from different reliable sources. The predetermined criteria are as follows:

• Educational attainment-This is calculated by obtaining the ratio of female literacy rate over male literacy rate, ratio of female net primary enrolment rate over male rate, ratio of female net secondary enrolment rate over male rate, ratio of female gross tertiary enrolment rate over male rate from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s Institute for Statistics.
• Political Empowerment-It is calculated by obtaining the ratio of females with seats in parliament over male value and ratio of females at ministerial level over a male value from the Intra-Parliamentary Union’s publication on Women in Politics. The World Economic Forum also calculates the ratio of number of years with a female head of State in a country to that of male value by taking the data of last 50 years.
• Economic Participation and Oppurtunity-The ratio of female labour force participation over male value, ratio of female legislators, senior officials and managers over male value and ratio of female professional and technical workers over male value are obtained from the International Labour Organization’s ILOSTAT database. Other than this, the ratio of female estimated earned income over male value and the equal wages for equal work are calculated by the World Economic Forum.
• Health and Survival-The United Nations Population Division’s data on sex ratio at birth and ratio of female healthy life expectancy over male value of the World Health Organization’s Global Health Observatory are taken for calculating this.

In 2017, an analysis of the gender gaps across industry talent pools and occupations has been added.

Position of India

As per the 2017 report, India has moved to the 108^th place among 144 countries. In fact, it has gone 21 slots below the previous position. It has also gone 10 places below the rank that was allotted in 2006 when the index was first developed. The position is far below some of its neighbouring countries like China and Bangladesh.

This indicates a very abysmal position of gender equality in India. The gender gap has widened over the years mainly due to fall in participation of women in economy and lower wages paid to women. In India, the two main criteria for deterioration in position are lack of political empowerment and healthy life expectancy and basic literacy. Ever since 1966 when the first female Prime Minister took the seat, the participation of women in politics has not increased to a greater extent. Their numbers among legislators, senior officials and managers has not increased rapidly. In terms of participation of women in the economy the rank has been 136 out of 144 and in terms of wages too the rank has been 136. So, around 66% women are involved in begar as compared to only 12% men.

In terms of health and survival India ranks fourth lowest in the world and is regarded as the world’s least improved country in this term. It has only shown a positive movement in terms of primary, secondary and tertiary enrolment ratio.

Comment

Gender discrimination in Indian society is one of the main causes for this persisting gender gap in all spheres. It lies in the root of the society, so removing it has become a difficult task. Along with unpaid work, outdated organizational structures, discrimination in providing training in skill development and employment are some of the outcomes of the gender bias society. It can only be changed through better legislation. There is a need to take into consideration the differential conditions of women and provide them additional facilities accordingly. For example, there is a need to improve the maternity laws wherein it has to be ensured that a woman not only gets sufficiently paid during maternity leave but also ensure that they do not lose on work due to this. There is also a need to strengthen the Equal Wages Act. While the Constitution of India provides for an ideal non-discriminatory society, it has not been followed in reality. There is also a need to improve access to justice for women when it comes to complaints n workplace harassment or discrimination.