Highlights from the World Development Report on Gender Equality and some US comparisons Jeni Klugman Director, Gender and Development World Bank Women Construction Owners and Executives Annual Congressional and Leadership Conference Washington DC February

What does the WDR 2012 do? Addresses four questions: (2) Why do inequalities matter? (3) Why do they persist? (4) What to do? (1) Is there gender equality ?

In the last 20 years, university enrollments for women rose 7-fold … and in 2009, women accounted for 51% of college students… Equal? …. And yet 35 million girls are still out of school today many of them in Sub-Saharan Africa…

In low & middle income countries life expectancy among women has increased by 20 years since 1960 Equal?

female life expectancy at birth East Asia & Pacific Europe & Central Asia High income Latin America & Caribbean Middle East & North Africa South Asia Sub-Saharan Africa World Change in female life expectancy 2009 vs

In low & middle income countries life expectancy among women has increased by 20 years since 1960 …. And yet, relative to boys and men, almost 4 million women die too early in the developing world compared with rich countries Equal?

Missing Women China and India1,249,000222,000284,000 Sub-Saharan Africa53,000203,000751,000 Total1,427,000617,0001,347,000

Missing women at birth Reference countries China India Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan

Excess female mortality after birth Reference countries Sub-Saharan Africa South Asia

In the last 30 years, 552 million joined the labor force and today, 4 out of 10 workers globally are women Equal?... And yet, on average, for every dollar a man makes, a woman earns 80 cents

Mexico 80¢Germany 62¢ Bangladesh 12¢ Nigeria 60¢ For every dollar a man makes, a woman earns… Malawi 90¢ Sri Lanka 50 ¢

Almost all rich countries passed the laws in 1970s to ensure equal pay for equal work, and gains came early but have tailed off. In OECD countries, gender wage gaps now averages around 18%. Wage gaps

Trends in the US Improved significantly since 1979, but hovered around 80% since 2004.

Occupational segregation in US

Hours of work: – 26% of all female wage workers in 2010 worked part time vs. 13% of men (mainly younger) – 25% of men in full-time jobs worked more than 40 hours, compared to 14% of women Occupations – Women are more likely than men to work in professional and related occupations, but concentrated in education and health (70% of total) and not in higher paying job groups. – In 2010, only 8% of female professionals were employed in computer and engineering fields, compared with 43% of males Occupational segregation in the US

Among F500 companies in the US in 2010, women were 4% of CEOs 8% of top earners 16% of board seats 14% of executive officers; 52% of management and professional occupations. Women in business in the US

All but 6 countries have ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women Equal? … and yet 510 million women will be abused by their partner in their lifetime.

Japan (Yokohama) Brazil (Sao Paulo) Bangladesh (Matlab) Ethiopia (Butajira) percentage women abused Domestic violence: percentage women abused 13% 27% 42% 49% 246,000 women

Given persistent disparities, useful to capture and compare across countries GII reflects gender-based disadvantage in three dimensions – reproductive health, empowerment and labor market  shows the loss in potential human development due to gender inequality in these dimensions. Some countries do much worse in gender equality than in human development on average: in 2011, US ranks 4 th on HDI, but only 47 th on GII. – Among developed countries, the US ranks above only four in gender equality – Chile, Argentina, Barbados and Qatar -- and behind all European countries. – Poor performance driven by relatively high maternal mortality and adolescent fertility rates, as well as low empowerment in terms of share of women in congress. – Other countries do better – eg Sweden, Netherlands, Denmark Global comparisons: Gender Inequality Index

Why do these inequalities matter Is the right thing to do…... is the smart thing to do

Gender gaps in agriculture disappear when access to productive inputs is equalized

Shortchanges the next generation … educated women invest more in children … witnesses of violence tend to become abusers Eliminating discrimination against female workers and managers could increase productivity per worker by 25 to 40% In an economically integrated world, even modest improvements in the efficiency of the use of resources give countries with less discrimination and more equality a competitive edge. Inequality has costs

Why do gaps persist? Underlying causes of gender inequality HOUSEHOLDS FORMAL INSTITUTIONS MARKETS ENDOWMENTS ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES AGENCY INFORMAL INSTITUTIONS policies Gender Equality Growth

What can we do to eliminate these gaps? Focus on gaps that do not disappear with growth  Gaps in human endowments  Earnings and productivity gaps  Gender differences in voice and agency  Reproduction of gender inequality over time Target determinants of gender inequality

HOUSEHOLDS Stable income FORMAL INSTITUTIONS Lower costs MARKETS Increasing returns to education ENDOWMENTS ECONOMIC OPPS. AGENCY CCTs INFORMAL INSTITUTIONS Progress: Education Growth Gender Equality

Less Progress: Economic Opportunities HOUSEHOLDS MARKETS AGENCY INFORMAL INSTITUTIONS ENDOWMENTS FORMAL INSTITUTIONS FORMAL INSTITUTIONS Biased law/regulations, and limited infrastructure MARKETS Differential access to labor/credit/land markets, and networks INFORMAL INSTITUTIONS Social norms on care/market work ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES HOUSEHOLS Differential allocation time/resources Growth Gender Equality