Comparative results

This section provides a comparative overview of the results for the Gender Equality Index and the Gender Gap Index (2014). The data for the Gender Equality Index cov-ers mostly the year 2012, with the exception of data from the European Working Conditions Survey and the Struc-ture of Earnings Survey which refer to 2010. The reference years for the Global Gap Index range from 2009 to 2014.

The overall scores of the two indices of gender equality are provided in Table 5.3.

Interpretation of the scores

The scores of the two indices are calculated on different scales, but can overall be interpreted in very similar ways.

The final value of the Gender Gap Index lies between 0 and 1 and the Gender Equality Index between 1 and 100, where the lowest value in both stands for inequality and the highest for equality, as set out in their respective approaches. Setting the maximum provides a benchmark over time to monitor the progress made. Another notable feature of these scores is the ease of interpretation they lend themselves to: the scores can be seen as approxi-mately representing the extent to which a given country has managed to achieve gender equality.

Table 5.2. Comparison between the conceptual and measurement frameworks of the Gender Equality Index and the Gender Gap Index

Gender Equality Index Gender Gap Index

Domains Sub-domains Concepts measured Concepts measured Domains

Core

Power

Political decision-making

Ministerial level Minister-level positions

Political empowerment Parliamentary level Parliamentary positions

Regional assemblies level

Gender ratio of years in executive office (prime minister or president) for the last 50 years.

Social decision-making

Economic decision-making

Members of central banks

Members on boards Advancement gap

Economic

Participation FTE participation Participation in the labour market Duration of working life

Money

Financial resources Earnings Remuneration gap

Income Economic situation Not at-risk-of-poverty

Income distribution

attainment Primary-, secondary- and tertiary-level

education gap Educational

attainment Literacy rate gap

Segregation Lifelong learning Lifelong learning

Time

Care activities Domestic activities Childcare activities

Social activities

Leisure and sport activities Healthy life years Healthy life expectancy

Self-perceived health

Ratio at birth (phenomenon of ‘missing women’ prevalent in many countries with a strong son preference) Behaviour

Access to health structures

inequalities Opening up the analytical space Source: World Economic Forum (2014).

Table 5.3. Scores for the Gender Gap Index and the Gender Equality Index by Member State

Gender Gap Index (2014) Gender Equality Index (2015)

Country Score Country Score

FI 0.8453 SE 74.2

SE 0.8165 FI 72.7

DK 0.8025 DK 70.9

IE 0.7850 NL 68.5

BE 0.7809 BE 58.2

DE 0.7780 UK 58.0

NL 0.7730 SI 57.3

LV 0.7691 IE 56.5

FR 0.7588 FR 55.7

BG 0.7444 DE 55.3

SI 0.7443 LU 55.2

UK 0.7383 ES 53.6

LU 0.7333 AT 50.2

ES 0.7325 EE 49.8

AT 0.7266 LV 46.9

PT 0.7243 MT 46.8

LT 0.7208 CY 44.9

HR 0.7075 CZ 43.8

PL 0.7051 PL 43.7

EE 0.7017 HU 41.6

IT 0.6973 IT 41.1

RO 0.6936 LT 40.2

SK 0.6806 HR 39.8

EL 0.6784 BG 38.5

HU 0.6759 EL 38.3

CY 0.6741 PT 37.9

CZ 0.6737 SK 36.5

MT 0.6707 RO 33.7

Source: World Economic Forum (2014)

Note: data for the Gender Gap Index refer to 2009-14 and for the Gender Equality Index to 2012

Comparison of the scores

Nevertheless, scores are somewhat different, both in their

When comparing two indices measuring the same multi-dimensional concept, it is crucial to remember that they should both point to the same result, but that there may be

at measuring gender equality, then there must be a close relationship between the rankings they produce. A corre-lation equal to 0.82 provides strong evidence that both composite indices capture the concept of gender equality in a similar way. Graphically, this relationship between the

two indices can be seen in Figure 5.10. It shows that EU Member States which tend to do well in one of the indices also tend to do well in the other. As a result it also demon-strates unequivocally that both indices are very powerful measures of gender equality.

Figure 5.10. Gender Gap Index and the Gender Equality Index in the EU Member States

AT

0.65 0.67 0.69 0.71 0.73 0.75 0.77 0.79 0.81 0.83 0.85

Gender Equality Index (scores)

Gender Gap Index (scores) Source: World Economic Forum (2014),

Note: data for the Gender Gap Index refer to 2009–14 and for the Gender Equality Index to 2012.

Distribution of scores

The range of scores is important because it is a measure of how EU Member States differ from each other and also how far they are from reaching the gender equality

benchmark. This range is very different between the two indices, with the Gender Equality Index ranging from 33.7 to 74.2 (on a scale ranging from 1 to 100) and the Gender Gap Index from 0.6707 to 0.8453 (on a scale ranging from 0 to 1) (Figure 5.11).

Figure 5.11. Distribution of scores in the Gender Gap Index and Gender Equality Index in the EU Member States

Source: World Economic Forum (2014).

Note: data for the Gender Gap Index refer to 2009–14 and for the Gender Equality Index to 2012

This distribution of scores is the result of the design of the two indices, their framework and the gender indicators that were chosen in light of their respective geographical coverage. The scores of the Gender Gap Index are

nar-less information as to how the EU Member States vary in terms of achieving gender equality.

At the same time, the distribution of scores also shows that

have implications in terms of the ability of the Gender Gap Index to grasp the complexity of gender equality and to be used as a measure that can support EU Member States to identify areas in which improvements are needed. In order to examine these more fully, it is necessary to look at the scores in greater detail at the domain level, which the section now turns to.