Table 1.2 Gender dimensions of development
See Table 1.2 hereAbout the data
Definitions
Data sources
Differences in the opportunities and resources available to men and women exist throughout the world, but are most prevalent in poor developing countries. This pattern begins at an early age: for example, boys receive a higher share of education and health spending than girls do. Such inequalities in the allocation of resources matter—because education, health, and nutrition are strongly associated with well-being, economic efficiency, and growth.
Girls in many developing countries are allowed less education by their families than boys are, as reflected in lower female primary school enrollment and higher female illiteracy rates (see table 1.1). They therefore have fewer employment opportunities, especially in the formal sector. Women who work outside the home do so in addition to taking on grueling household chores and childbearing and child-rearing responsibilities, often falling prey to the debilitating effects of undernourishment and ill health.
Female morbidity and mortality rates often exceed male rates, particularly during early childhood and the reproductive years. Life expectancy has increased for both men and women in all regions. But while in high-income countries women tend to outlive men by six to eight years on average, in low-income countries the difference is much narrower—about two to three years.
This female disadvantage is also reflected in the overall sex ratio of the population. Although the natural sex ratio at birth of 105 females per 100 males indicates female biological advantage, sex ratios in many countries are below 100. In developing countries this generally implies higher female mortality, although migration cannot be ruled out as a factor. Ratios exceeding 105 can be attributed to male migration in search of jobs or, increasingly in some parts of the world, to war losses. Data on sex ratios should be interpreted with caution, because it is not possible to isolate mortality and migration effects. For more information on these indicators see the tables indicated: sex ratio (table 2.1), gross primary enrollment (table 2.8), females as a percentage of the labor force (table 2.3), and life expectancy at birth (table 2.14).
For information on other aspects of gender differences see tables 2.1 (population), 2.2 (population dynamics), 2.3 (labor force structure), 2.4 (employment), 2.9 (educational attainment), 2.10 (gender and education), and 2.14 (mortality). See table 2.12 for data on the share of births attended by health staff.
• Population sex ratio is the number of women per 100 men in the population. Differences in this ratio across countries reflect differences in sex ratios at birth and in patterns of migration and mortality.
• Gross primary enrollment is the ratio of total enrollment, regardless of age, to the population of the age group that officially corresponds to the primary level of education.
• Female labor force as a percentage of the total is the proportion of economically active females in the labor force as defined by national authorities.
• Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life.
The indicators here and throughout the rest of the book have been compiled by World Bank staff from primary and secondary sources. For most of the indicators shown in the tables in this section, the sources are cited in the notes to the tables referred to in About the data. Data on surface area are from the Food and Agriculture Organization (see Data sources for table 3.1). GNP per capita is estimated by World Bank staff based on national accounts data collected by World Bank staff during economic missions or reported by national statistical offices to other international organizations such as the OECD. For high-income OECD economies the data come from the OECD. Data on illiteracy rates are supplied by UNESCO and published in its Statistical Yearbook (see Data sources for table 2.9).