Global Gender Gap Index Explained: Will India and the world ever be 'gender equal?' 

The World Economic Forum has released its annual Global Gender Gap Index for 2024. Iceland retained its position as the most 'gender-equal' country on the planet. India has slipped two positions and is now in the 129th position out of 146 countries ranked.

Significantly within South Asia, India ranked fifth after Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan, while Pakistan ranked last. 

What has caused India to slip in the rankings?

What does it say about India's future growth?

Is there a glimmer of hope?

Read to find out! 

What is the Global Gender Gap Index? 

The Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI) is an annual report produced by the WEF that measures gender-based gaps in access to resources and opportunities in countries. 

The WEF has been publishing the index since 2006, and it's now an important indicator of how economists track gender parity across the globe. 

How is it calculated?

Four key factors are considered while calculating the index: 

Economic participation and opportunity

This is an important indicator measuring the equitable distribution of participation, opportunity, and earned income between men and women in a country. This time, India ranked among the lowest in the world with a score of 39.8% and retained its 142nd rank. 

Also read: India’s women hope for greater gender equity

The much-debated 'wage gap' between men and women also falls under this metric. The amount that men and women are paid for doing the same work is part of what defines how economically equitable a country is. 

Health and survival

The health and survival of women as compared to men are other important factors.  Maternal deaths, female infanticide, childbirth mortality, reproductive health, and other general health metrics are considered while calculating. In this, India has retained its 142nd rank.

Interestingly, in the past 50 years, the average number of maternity leave days has increased from 63 to 107, and paternity leave days have increased from less than a day to nine. 

Political Empowerment

As the name suggests, this metric measures the number of women in positions of political and legislative power. In this regard, India scores within the top 10 on the head-of-state indicator (40.7%). India’s scores for women’s representation at the federal level, in ministerial positions (6.9%) and in parliament (17.2%), remain relatively low. The country fell six points to the 65th position this year.

Educational Attainment

Education is an important indicator for measuring the growth of any country. The WEF said, "While the shares of women are high in primary, secondary and tertiary education enrolments, they have only been modestly increasing, and the gap between men's and women’s literacy rates is 17.2 percentage points wide, leaving India ranked 112th on this indicator", compared to 26th last year.

What does a 'high' or 'low' rank mean for a country?

A country that is high on the GGGI is more equal for its male and female citizens than a country that sits low.

One can track their country's progress by taking a look at its gender gap ranking. 

What does India's ranking mean?

India has fallen two points in the past year, signalling that a lot needs to be done to make sure that women and men are on par. After all, it is home to more than 1.4 billion people.

Also read: Iceland PM to join thousands of women for 'Kvennafrí', a strike for gender equality

But, there are a few bright spots as well. The country has closed its 'gender gap' by more than 64% and is on the right track towards true gender equality. Just some added push is required for it to do so. 

Does a country with a 'perfect' score have no problems?

This is far from true. No country in the world has a perfect score on the index (Iceland ranks number 1 with a 0.935 score), and no country is without any problems. It is to be noted that the country witnessed a 'women's day off' strike in 2023 in which even the prime minister participated. 

Are we doing enough?

Important issues like unpaid labour done by women in a household setting, overwork by working mothers, and a lack of metrics for non-binary people remain key hindrances in the world's path to real gender parity.

At the current rate, we will not be achieving it until the year 2158, long after this author and all the readers of his words, are dead.