US lags behind in gender gap study

The US lags at 22nd place behind developed and even a couple of developing countries in a study of inequality between men and women, mainly because it has few women in politics. Sweden is the only country where men and women form equal numbers among all ministers and parliamentarians. Cherie Booth, a human rights barrister and wife of Tony Blair, UK prime minister, said there were more women in parliament in Iraq and Afghanistan–two countries not covered by the report–than in the UK. The study of 115 countries published on Nov. 21 by the World Economic Forum (WEF), a Swiss-based think-tank, measures the gender gap based on economic, political, educational and health-based criteria in a benchmarking exercise aimed at improving women's position in society. The individual country rankings show Sweden, Norway and Finland at the top of the league, having closed about 80 percent of the gender gap, with Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Chad at the bottom, with a gender gap of about 50 percent. The Philippines is the only Asian and developing country in the top 10. The US falls short of the top 20 but other economically-advanced countries are ranked lower. France and Italy are ranked 70 and 77 respectively, while Japan takes 79th place. The UK is in ninth place. The index focuses on the relative extent of the gender gap regardless of a country's wealth–by assessing how well countries divide their opportunities and resources between men and women. Although no country offers women equal treatment with men, countries have made big progress in education and healthcare for women, having closed 90 percent of the gap with men in these areas. When it comes to political empowerment–the ratio of women to men in parliament, ministerial positions and executive office–just 15 percent of the gap with men has been closed. There was a positive correlation between national income per head and the WEF's analysis of the relative position of women in society, with women in richer countries tending to fare better than those in poorer societies.