Israel's ranking in the Global Gender Gap Report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) plunged 18 places to 64th place out of the 153 countries rated. The report takes into account figures such as wage differentials, women representatives in politics, etc. The highest ratings in the report went to the Scandinavian countries and Nicaragua, a country in which women make up half of the parliament and government.
The report, published today, ranks countries according to participation by women in the workforce, their access to education and health, and opportunities for representation and promotion in politics. The report's authors also included a sub-index this year, in which they examined how many women were employed in work sectors likely to be in demand in the future, rather than mere manual labor. The report concluded that despite the continual improvement in recent years, it will take 100 years at the current pace before global gender equality is achieved.
One of the areas stressed in the report is representation in politics. The report found that although there was more improvement in this aspect than in any other, it still contained the greatest differences between men and women. This issue made headlines last week, following the appointment of Sanna Marin, 34, as prime minister of Finland at the head of a coalition in which of five women party leaders, four were under 40.
In addition to Europe, there are also many Latin American countries in which women have equal representation in politics. The leading country in the world in the proportion of women in the legislative chamber is Rwanda, with 61.3%. Only 23% of the current MKs in Israel are women.
The report also comments on the ongoing problem of wage differences, which exist even in Scandinavian countries, and of women's participation in the labor force, which is not increasing significantly around the world, according to the figures. According to the report, only 55% of women work worldwide, compared with 78% of men.
In education, there are 35 countries with equal access to education among women and men, including Israel. The report states that five countries with the greatest improvement in the past year are Mexico, Ethiopia, Mali, Albania, and Spain. All of these countries are above Israel in the global ratings.
An analysis of the data for Israel shows that while almost complete gender equality has been achieved in education, it is nevertheless located in the middle of the global ranking because of two main reasons: lack of representation and power for women in politics, reflected in the low number of women MKs, government service, and the relatively large number of years in which the prime ministers were men; and substantial differences in salaries between women and men, combined with low participation in the labor force among women.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 17, 2019
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