Europe leads in gender equality

When it comes to educational and professional opportunities combined with affordable healthcare and high political participation, women worldwide should take a closer look at Europe. According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2012, published annually by the world economic forum, out of 20 countries with the highest gender equality in the world 15 are located in Europe. Among the four largest economies of the world – USA, Japan, China and Germany – , only Germany made it into the top 20 group. From 2011 to 2012, the United States slipped five places to position 22.

The Global Gender Gap Report ranks countries on their ability to close the gender gap in four key areas: access to healthcare, access to education, political participation and economic equality. The fact that German universities do generally not charge tuition fees and that the government provides subsidies and grants to domestic students has allowed many girls from lower and lower-middle class backgrounds to overcome the financial obstacles of their family backgrounds. 

Asia's highest ranking country in gender equality is the Philippines (8), primarily due to success in health, education and economic participation. China, which is the second lowest ranking country on the health and survival subindex (132) due to a skewed sex ratio at birth, scored highly in terms of female labour force participation (74%). Japan (101) and South Korea (108) are among the lowest ranking OECD economies. India (105) is the lowest-ranked of the BRIC take-off economies, while Pakistan is among the bottom 10 countries for primary education, secondary education and literacy.

Particularly disappointing is the situation in the Arab world. Rich countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia performed dismally at positions 107 and 131, respectively. Arab girls and women so far have not benefited from the political transformation taking place in the region. To the contrary, some countries – like Egypt and Syria – have recently experienced a drastic decline in job opportunities and public security for women.

The full report can be downloaded here:

http://www.weforum.org/reports/global-gender-gap-report-2012

Chris

germanstudycentre@gmail.com