Women on the margins of the job market.

The Global Gender Gap Report, published by the World Economic Forum (WEF), examines the status of gender gap in all countries and serves as a reference for measuring the level of gender equality among countries. In the recent report, Iran was ranked 150th out of 156 countries in terms of gender gap, showing a declining trend compared to previous years. The report also examines various dimensions of this index and compares it with several neighboring countries.

***

The Gender Gap Index is composed of four sub-indices: participation and economic opportunities, educational achievements, health and life expectancy, and political empowerment. It ranks countries based on their overall performance in terms of gender equality. The importance of this index, in addition to its high precision and credibility among global indices, lies in its quality of measurement, specifically in measuring the gap between men and women in the mentioned dimensions. The research and statistical analysis in this report are designed with the goal of identifying effective tools for reducing the gender gap. These methods have remained consistent since the inception of this report in 2006. The latest report has added Afghanistan, Guyana, and Niger to the list of countries ranked based on their gender gap.

General findings.

Health and educational gaps between men and women are close in one hundred and forty-six countries, with ninety-six and ninety-four percent equality respectively; however, in areas of economic participation and political empowerment, the gap between men and women is much greater. In the table below, the brighter colors indicate more unequal areas, while the darker colors indicate more equal areas.

The World Economic Forum announced in its latest annual report that due to the spread of the coronavirus, the gender gap in the world has deepened. Women are more likely than men to be unemployed and have been forced to stay at home to take care of children.

According to the latest version of this report, the gender gap is expected to close in approximately 52.5 years in Western Europe, 61.5 years in North America, 68.9 years in Latin America and the Caribbean. In other regions of the world, this number is over 100 years. For example, 121.7 years in Southern Africa, 134.7 years in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, 165.1 years in East Asia and the Pacific, 142.4 years in the Middle East and North Africa, and 195.4 years in South Asia. Globally, due to the slow progress of large countries in their current trajectory, it will take 125 years for the gender gap to be closed.

The most developed countries.

According to this report, Iceland has the highest gender equality ranking among countries in the world with a score of 90. Finland, Norway, New Zealand, Sweden, Namibia, Rwanda, Lithuania, Ireland, and Switzerland rank second to tenth. Since being included in the list for the first time in 2014, Rwanda has consistently been among the top ten countries every year. Its highest scores in the sub-indices are in educational attainment and health and survival (96.0 and 97.4, respectively), and it has reduced the gender gap in tertiary education by 2.9% and maintained equality in primary education. In terms of economic participation and opportunity, Rwanda is one of three countries that have achieved gender equality in workforce participation by 2022 (alongside Sierra Leone and Burundi). It has also achieved gender equality in political empowerment at ministerial and parliamentary levels; Nicaragua has shown progress since 2021 and is now ranked seventh. Namibia has dropped two places since

Iran’s position.

Furthermore, among the nineteen countries present in the Middle East region, Iran ranks sixteenth and only Syria, Iraq, and Yemen have a worse situation than Iran. Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Tunisia rank first, second, and third in this ranking. In the following, the position of Iran in different categories will be examined.

Participation and Economic Opportunities.

The participation of women in the labor market and economic opportunities is one of the components that is considered in the gender gap index. This index is measured by sub-indicators such as women’s participation rate, women’s income compared to men, and the share of women in high-level occupations. According to the World Economic Forum report, 18.9% of Iranian women and 76.9% of Iranian men are considered part of the active population, ranking Iran 152nd in the world. Additionally, men earn four times more than women for similar work, and Iran ranks 110th in the world in terms of wage equality for similar work.

Educational achievements.

Educational achievements are among the other indicators of gender gap, which are measured by factors such as literacy rates and enrollment of women in primary, secondary, and higher education levels. According to this report, out of every 100 Iranian men, 90.4 are literate, while this number is 80.8 for every 100 women. This places Iran at 119th rank in terms of literacy rate, showing a decline of six steps in the past five years. According to the World Economic Forum, 98% of Iranian men and 97% of Iranian women are enrolled in primary education. In secondary education, 80 women out of every 100 women are enrolled, compared to 82 men out of every 100 men.

Countries are trying to reduce the gender gap by implementing policies such as encouraging women to participate in various economic sectors, targeting the employment of female graduates (like India and Malaysia), and reducing tax rates for businesses started by women.

Health and longevity.

In the health and life expectancy section, Iran’s situation is relatively better compared to other countries in the region. The life expectancy rate for women in Iran is 66.5 years compared to 66.6 years for men, ranking Iran at 120th in the world. Among the countries studied, Turkey and Saudi Arabia have better situations than Iran, and the United Arab Emirates and Qatar are ranked 102nd and 151st in the world, respectively.

Rank of Iran and five neighboring countries in Gender Inequality Index.

Political Empowerment

The number of women in parliament and the cabinet, and the actual level of women’s presence in these positions, are among the indicators of women’s political empowerment. As can be seen in the above table, Iran has the worst performance among the four indicators and ranks 151st in the world, which shows a significant decline compared to previous reports from this institution. Among the countries studied, Turkey has a better overall situation compared to other countries, but four countries, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE, are in a similar position in terms of the time women hold political positions. Allocating a gender quota in parliament (such as in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Afghanistan) or allocating a gender quota in candidate lists by parties (such as in Turkey) are among the common methods to increase women’s representation in political positions, none of which have been considered by the Islamic Republic. Afghanistan has a better performance in this indicator compared to other indicators, which is due to women’s employment in

Buttocks.

According to the report of the World Economic Forum, the gender gap in Iran has significantly decreased in the field of educational achievements, especially at the primary and secondary levels. Based on this report, Iran is among countries such as Chile, the United Arab Emirates, and India, which have made significant investments in women’s education in recent years, but these investments have not led to an increase in women’s participation in the workforce. Therefore, women have better educational opportunities compared to before, but they do not have a suitable situation in terms of income, social and political participation. This has resulted in neglecting half of the population and the financial investments in this sector have not achieved their goals and have not been converted into social capital.

Notes:

The Global Gender Gap Report 2021, published by the World Economic Forum.

2. What does the gender gap index say about Iran? IRNA, 17 Dey 1398.

3. 132 years to gender equality, Shargh newspaper, 23 Tir month 1401.