Where Does Level of Development Vary by Gender? Chapter 9 Key Issue 3 Where Does Level of Development Vary by Gender?

Gender-Related Development Index Gender-Related Development Index (GDI) uses the same indicators of development to reflect differences in the accomplishments and conditions of men and women. A country with complete gender equality would have a GDI of 1.0. According to 2005 data Norway has the highest GDI (0.960) which means that both men and women in this country have achieved a high level of development. The lowest GDIs, where women’s level of development is substantially below that of men, are in Sub-Saharan Africa. Women on average have two-thirds of the income of men in MDCs. The disparity is less in dollar terms in LDCs. The gap between men and women in education and literacy is much greater in LDCs than in MDCs. When it comes to life expectancy, the gender gap is greater in MDCs than in LDCs.

Gender Empowerment The Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) measures the degree of economic and political power held by women. The GEM economic indicator is the percentage of women in professional and technical jobs. This indicator is much higher in MDCs than in LDCs. One indicator of the political power of women is the percentage of the country’s administrative and managerial jobs they hold. This is higher in MDCs, especially Europe, than LDCs. The other political indicator of empowerment is the percentage of women elected to public office. The highest percentages are in northern Europe, and every country has a lower GEM than GDI.