Alternative Africa

Top Menu

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact Us

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business
  • Environment
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Reports
    • Africa-Observers
      • Read Reports
      • Submit a story
  • MORE
    • Health
    • News Now
    • World
    • Technology
Sign in / Join

Login

Welcome! Login in to your account
Lost your password?

Lost Password

Back to login
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact Us

logo

Alternative Africa

  • Home
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business
  • Environment
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Reports
    • Africa-Observers
      • Read Reports
      • Submit a story
  • MORE
    • Health
    • News Now
    • World
    • Technology
  • Former French president, Sarkozy sentenced to three years in jail for corruption

  • Ghana to distribute covid vaccines by drone, UPS

  • Ghana president, Akufo-Addo, wife, VP Bawumia take covid vaccine on TV ahead of national rollout

  • Ghana to administer Coronavirus vaccines free in all hospitals as VP takes first shot

  • France authorises first synthetic antibody treatment for severe Covid-19

News Now
Home›News Now›Gender equality gap worsens for women – World Economic Forum

Gender equality gap worsens for women – World Economic Forum

By alternativeafrica
November 2, 2017
792
0
Share:
Girls in Yemen classroom take an exam in image taken in 2016Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption Yemen ranks the worst in the world for female equality, with low representation in politics and education

Inequality between men and women across the world has worsened over the past year, a report suggests.

It is the first time that data from the World Economic Forum (WEF) has shown a year-on-year worsening of the gender gap since it began charting it in 2006.

The report ranks 144 countries to compare women’s economic opportunities, education, political participation and health with men.

Women are measured as having 68% of the chances and outcomes that men have.

This is slightly down from the 68.3% measured last year.

But the group says the overall gender gap in all of the areas of equality it monitors would take 100 years to close at the current rate.

That is well up from the 83 years predicted in 2016.

Gender parity is closest in areas of health and education, it says, but significant gaps in economic participation and political empowerment continue to endure across the world.

Women will have to wait 217 years before they earn as much as men and are equally represented in the workplace, the figures suggest.

Nordic countries remain among some of the world’s best for overall equality. Iceland tops the list with a 12% gender gap across all the WEF’s measures. Norway, Finland ands Sweden are all in the top five.

Rwanda came fourth in the list for overall gender equality with a gap of 18%. The country has the highest share of women in parliament in the world – they occupy three in every five seats.

Nicaragua, Slovenia, Ireland, New Zealand and the Philippines also made the top 10 on the Global Gender Gap rankings.

Women in the Middle East and North Africa fared the worst, with war-torn Yemen coming last on the list with a gender equality score of just 52%.

The report shows women in the world earn less not just because of gendered salary differences, but because women are more likely to do unpaid or part-time work than men.

Women also generally tend to work in lower-paid professions and are less likely to be in highly-paid senior roles in companies.

Slovenia has the smallest gap in gender earnings – with women there on average earning 80.5% of the male national average.

The report says that if the economic gender gap was totally closed:

  • China could add $2.5tn to its GDP
  • The United States could add $1.75bn
  • France and Germany could add more than $300bn each
  • The UK could add $250bn

New world leaders’ impact

Both Canada and France saw improvements to their political empowerment measures after Justin Trudeau and Emmanuel Macron added more women in ministerial positions within their governments.

The US saw a marked drop in this area, with female political empowerment at its lowest rate in 10 years. It came 96th in this area.

The report blames a significant decrease in female ministerial positions for the fall – a Freedom of Information request in March revealed that only 27% of all jobs within the Trump administration were taken by women.

  • Meet Trump’s cabinet: The people around the president
  • All-male White House picture sparks anger

Overall the US fell four places to take 49th position.

The UK climbed five places, taking 15th spot this year. Its rank is largely due to high levels of female education, and Prime Minister Theresa May’s government has helped the UK to improve its political score. A record number of female MPs were elected to the country’s parliament in June.

But it continues to lag behind in economic participation and opportunities for women in particular. The UK ranks 95th in the world for income equality, with women in the UK earning on average 45% less per year than men.

Other countries that improved overall included Bangladesh, which now ranks 47th in the world and the highest in South Asia after increasing female employment in professions.

Sub-Saharan African countries made marked improvements in women’s health. Nine countries from the region are in the world’s top 20 for high female labour force participation.

SHARE ON:
TagsAfricaBreakingNews
Previous Article

Turkey delivers new assault rifles to Somalia ...

Next Article

Libya militia refuses extradition request

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

alternativeafrica

Related articles More from author

  • AfricaBusinessNews Now

    Nigeria, Libya, Somalia lead as terrorism cost Africa $13 billion in 2019-Report

    November 28, 2020
    By alternativeafrica
  • News Now

    Sierra Leone coach John Keister defends national team training sessions

    December 7, 2017
    By alternativeafrica
  • News Now

    Mohamed Kallon out to boost Sierra Leone coaching

    September 29, 2017
    By alternativeafrica
  • News Now

    Africa must address root causes of conflicts to achieve sustainable development-UN Deputy Chief

    March 25, 2019
    By alternativeafrica
  • News Now

    Zimbabwe’s likely next leader

    November 19, 2017
    By alternativeafrica
  • News NowPolitics

    Cameroon internet shut for separatists

    October 2, 2017
    By alternativeafrica

Leave a reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

You might be interested

  • Anne's DiaryHealth

    Morocco showcasing a model for battling crimes against women.

  • AfricaBusinessNews Now

    Singapore firm, Olam to acquire Dangote Flour for N130bn

  • AfricaBusinessNews Now

    South Sudan resumes oil production after five years conflict

Timeline

  • March 1, 2021

    Former French president, Sarkozy sentenced to three years in jail for corruption

  • March 1, 2021

    Ghana to distribute covid vaccines by drone, UPS

  • March 1, 2021

    Ghana president, Akufo-Addo, wife, VP Bawumia take covid vaccine on TV ahead of national rollout

  • March 1, 2021

    Ghana to administer Coronavirus vaccines free in all hospitals as VP takes first shot

  • March 1, 2021

    France authorises first synthetic antibody treatment for severe Covid-19

  • Popular

  • Comments

  • Lagos govt confirms first case of deadly coronavirus infection in Nigeria

    By alternativeafrica
    February 28, 2020
  • Keynote Address of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at 2018 Oxford Africa Conference

    By PSJ Africa
    May 14, 2018
  • Morocco begins regional integration by connecting Casablanca Airport with High Speed Train

    By alternativeafrica
    January 4, 2020
  • Kenyan govt pressure Facebook for data on Kenyan users

    By alternativeafrica
    November 20, 2019
  • Nigeria: 32,000 capacity Lagos rice mill to start production in 2020

    By alternativeafrica
    December 23, 2019
  • Ado zagi
    on
    January 12, 2021

    Nigeria: EFCC Academy to begin award of degree

    Diploma leave areply from
  • Ethiopia joins Africa's Artificial Intelligence revolution | Alternative Africa
    on
    October 2, 2020

    Spending on Artificial Intelligence Systems in Africa, Middle East to top $374 million in 2020

    […] Many African countries ...
  • The 5 most popular Africans 2020
    on
    September 25, 2020

    Celebrating Congolese doctor Jean-Jacques Muyembe, the man behind breakthrough of Ebola cure

    […] Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe ...
  • Millitants in Central Mali Set Jail Ablaze in Attack Killing Two | taktik(z) GDI (Government Defense ...
    on
    August 11, 2020

    Fifteen gendarmes killed in another attack on Mali camp

    […] attack fol­lowed a January ...
  • Millitants in Central Mali Set Jail Ablaze in Attack Killing Two
    on
    August 11, 2020

    Fifteen gendarmes killed in another attack on Mali camp

    […] attack followed a ...
AlternativeAfrica.com is an independent Pan African News Website dedicated primarily to influencing the negative narratives about Africa. We hope to do this by focusing and showcasing the many developmental strides sweeping across the continent.

Read more >>>

Contact Info

  • info@alternativeafrica.com
  • Recent

  • Popular

  • Comments

  • Former French president, Sarkozy sentenced to three years in jail for corruption

    By alternativeafrica
    March 1, 2021
  • Ghana to distribute covid vaccines by drone, UPS

    By alternativeafrica
    March 1, 2021
  • Ghana president, Akufo-Addo, wife, VP Bawumia take covid vaccine on TV ahead of national rollout

    By alternativeafrica
    March 1, 2021
  • Ghana to administer Coronavirus vaccines free in all hospitals as VP takes first shot

    By alternativeafrica
    March 1, 2021
  • Lagos govt confirms first case of deadly coronavirus infection in Nigeria

    By alternativeafrica
    February 28, 2020
  • Keynote Address of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at 2018 Oxford Africa Conference

    By PSJ Africa
    May 14, 2018
  • Macron in Ivory Coast to launch anti-terrorism academy

    By alternativeafrica
    December 21, 2019
  • Kenyan govt pressure Facebook for data on Kenyan users

    By alternativeafrica
    November 20, 2019
  • Ado zagi
    on
    January 12, 2021

    Nigeria: EFCC Academy to begin award of degree

    Diploma leave areply from
  • Ethiopia joins Africa's Artificial Intelligence revolution | Alternative Africa
    on
    October 2, 2020

    Spending on Artificial Intelligence Systems in Africa, Middle East to top $374 million in 2020

    […] Many African countries ...
  • The 5 most popular Africans 2020
    on
    September 25, 2020

    Celebrating Congolese doctor Jean-Jacques Muyembe, the man behind breakthrough of Ebola cure

    […] Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe ...
  • Millitants in Central Mali Set Jail Ablaze in Attack Killing Two | taktik(z) GDI (Government Defense ...
    on
    August 11, 2020

    Fifteen gendarmes killed in another attack on Mali camp

    […] attack fol­lowed a January ...

Photostream

    Follow us

    • Home
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Contact Us
    © Copyright Alternative Africa 2019. All rights reserved.