What new indicators were added to the Women, Business and the Law report?

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Two New Indicators Were Incorporated into the Women, Business and the Law Report

The Women, Business and the Law report has expanded its scope by introducing two new indicators: safety and childcare. These additions provide a more comprehensive understanding of the legal landscape affecting women's economic participation. The inclusion of these new metrics has led to a revised assessment of the legal protections afforded to women globally.
Safety Concerns Highlighted by New Indicators

The integration of safety as a new indicator has brought to light significant deficiencies in legal protections for women. Across the 190 countries studied, women possess less than a third of the necessary legal safeguards against issues such as domestic violence, child marriage, and femicide. While 151 countries have laws against workplace sexual harassment, only 40 have enacted legislation to address it in public spaces, indicating a substantial gap in ensuring women's safety even during their commute to work.
Childcare's Impact on Women's Economic Participation Assessed

The childcare indicator underscores the disproportionate burden of unpaid care work placed on women. Globally, women dedicate, on average, 2.4 more hours per day to unpaid care responsibilities than men, with a significant portion of this time spent caring for children. The report notes that only 78 countries have established quality standards for childcare services, highlighting a need for improved infrastructure to support women's entry and progression in the workforce.
Revised Estimate of Legal Protections for Women

With the incorporation of safety and childcare indicators, alongside existing metrics on pay, marriage, parenthood, workplace, mobility, assets, entrepreneurship, and pensions, the report now indicates that women, on average, receive only 64 per cent of the legal protections available to men. This is a downward revision from the previously estimated 77 per cent. The report emphasizes that no country, regardless of its economic standing, offers complete equal opportunity for women.
Gap Between Policy and Practice Identified

A key finding of the report is the considerable disparity between enacted policies and their practical implementation and enforcement. For instance, while 98 economies have equal pay legislation, only 35 possess pay-transparency measures or enforcement mechanisms to effectively address the gender pay gap, where women earn approximately 77 cents for every dollar earned by men. This gap between policy and practice hinders women's ability to prosper economically.

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What new indicators were added to the Women, Business and the Law report?

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