Status: 03/02/2023 5:01 p.m
According to the World Bank, it could take more than 50 years for men and women to have equal rights worldwide. The pace of reform is at a 20-year low. Germany is doing well but has room for improvement.
According to the World Bank, global equality for women and men is progressing too slowly. According to a report by the organization, at the current rate of reform, it will take at least 50 years for women and men to have legal equality.
Too few gender reforms
The report examined laws and regulations in eight different areas across 190 economies, including mobility, the workplace, marriage, parenting, wealth and retirement. The result: Worldwide, almost 2.4 billion women of working age still do not have the same rights as men: On average, they enjoy only 77 percent of the legal rights that men have in the countries surveyed.
‘This means that millions of young women entering the workforce today will have to wait until retirement – many even longer – before they can enjoy equal rights,’ says the report. The pace of global reforms is at its lowest level in 20 years, posing a potential obstacle to economic growth.
According to the study, only 34 gender law reforms will have been implemented in 18 countries by 2022. That is the lowest number since 2001. However, more than 1,500 reforms would be needed to achieve substantial legal gender equality in all areas examined. The global average has increased from 45.8 to 77.1 points since 1970. Five years ago, the global average was 73.8 points.
Statutory equality only in 14 countries
Significant progress was made in the first decade of this century. Since then, however, reform fatigue has set in. According to the World Bank, in only 14 out of 190 economies do women have the same legal rights as men on all eight indicators measured. In addition to Germany, these also include Belgium, Denmark, France, Sweden and Spain.
The Palestinian territories, Yemen and Sudan are at the bottom. But the report also draws attention to a problem for Germany: If the pattern of career breaks in this country remains unchanged, women’s pensions would be 20 percent below the average wage.