Gender disparities in human development
Human Development Report Office
Milorad Kovacevic, Chief of Statistics
Side event on the margins of the 59th Commission on Status
of Women
Introduction
Human development is broadly defined as a process of enlarging
people’s choices and freedoms to live long, healthy and creative
lives; to advance other goals they have reason to value; and to
engage actively in shaping development equitably and sustainably
on a shared planet.
Problem:
• Social norms link biological sex roles to
– access to opportunities
– control over resources
• Results
– Disparities in freedoms women and men have and the choices they can
make
Some freedoms/rights and the global facts:
1. The freedom to control own life, autonomy of the body, the
right to have and determine choices
–
Between 1990 and 2013, maternal mortality dropped by 45% , but still more than 280,000 maternal deaths happen every year or
approximately 800 a day
–
About 16 million girls aged 15 to 19 years and two million girls under
the age of 15 give birth every year
–
Over 30% of girls marry before age 18, around 14% before the age of 15
2. To have and to expand the sense of self-worth; the ability to
influence the direction of social change towards a just social
and economic order
– Gaps in primary and secondary education enrolment are reducing
– Gaps in school attainment are reducing but with still a large variation
across regions
– Women account for only 21.1% parliamentary seats globally (in 2014)
30
Arab States
25
East Asia and the Pacific
20
Europe and Central Asia
15
Latin America and the
Caribbean
10
South Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa
5
World
0
2008
2010
2012
2013
3. To have equal access to opportunities and resources
–
Some degree of improvement in labour market participation with a large
variation across regions (LFPR)
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
–
–
–
Female
Male
Wage differences persist (77.4%)
Fewer women in managerial positions
Gender power relations at different levels of society influence:
o Priority setting and resource allocation
o Women often absent from key decision making arenas
How to Quantify Gender Disparities?
–
–
Previous analysis was based on a set of indicators, a “portfolio of gender
indicators”
Some advantages of having a composite index:
o One focused measure synthesizes information, attracts attention, detects the
overall change, and trigger a discussion
o Allows a combination of relevant indicators within a well-defined conceptual
framework
o Sensitive to a change in any component
o Allows an easy unpacking to components for a deeper analysis
o Generally easy to communicate, good for advocacy and raising awareness
Gender Inequality Index
– Gender inequalities in empowerment:
GII
o Freedom to control own life, autonomy of the body, the right to have and
determine choices (MMR, ABR)
o Freedom/Right to influence the direction of social change towards a just social
and economic order (Share of population with some secondary education;
Share of parliamentary seats)
o Equal access to opportunities and resources (LFPR)
1.000
0.900
0.800
0.700
0.600
0.500
0.400
0.300
0.200
0.100
0.000
0.250
0.350
0.450
0.550
0.650
HDI
0.750
0.850
0.950
Gender Inequality Index
– Sheds light on the position of women in the society
– Insights in inequity in major areas of empowerment and HD
– The component indicators highlight areas in need of critical policy
intervention
– Stimulates proactive thinking and public policies
But
– Was conceived as an association-sensitive inequality index
– Hence, a complex functional form
– Focused on adult, working age, population
– However, disparities are present over the entire life course
– Can be modified to be, perhaps, a women (disadvantage) index
Gender Development Index
– A simple ratio of separate HDIs for women and men
– Measures gender gap in three basic dimensions of HD
– In 2014, the average GDI (world) was 0.920, indicating that on average
female HDI is about 8% lower than male HDI
– Variation across countries, HDI groups and regions
Human Development Index
1.0
ρ=0.7
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
Gender Development Index
1.0
1.1
Gender Development Index
– Same indicators as HDI:
• LE adjusted for biological difference
• Income is estimated using wages and shares of LFPR (problematic,
wages available for less than 80 countries)
• Income is log-transformed, difference is attenuated
– It reveals that the gender gap exists at all levels of HD
– High correlation (0.7) tells that the smaller gender gap is associated with
higher HDI
Data issues persist
–
–
–
–
–
Data availability and quality remain issues
Gaps in data on time use, informal work, wages, local government
representation, violence against women, etc.
Lack of time series
New SDG indicators will refer to land ownership, financial independence,
decision making at home and wider
Data revolution may bring better use of existing data including admin
data, probably enhanced use of “big data”
Policy implications
• HD gender indices can be used creatively to inform policy debates
• Looking beyond mere sex disaggregation of data adds value to the policy
debate
• Innovative use of quantitative and qualitative data and broadens debate
• Countries will boost HD by addressing gender inequalities on all fronts
Thank you!
http://hdr.undp.org/en