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Barbieland seems like a utopia for women, who hold all the social, political, and business power. But here in the real world, women still have fewer rights than men in every single country, according to a new report from the World Bank.
Where in the world? Well, everywhere. The latest Women, Business, and the Law report, released on March 4, analyzed 190 countries. It found that women have fewer rights than men in every country, especially when considering legal differences such as childcare and protections against violence.
While 98 countries have equal pay laws, just 35 have pay transparency laws or processes to measure the gender pay gap. Globally, women earn 77 cents on the dollar, which delays when they can retire and how much they must work for a standard of living similar to that had by men. Even in wealthy, progressive countries with smaller pay disparities, such as New Zealand and Iceland, women still fall behind their male counterparts.
In 27 countries, mainly in Asia, Africa, and Oceania, followed by the Caribbean, Middle East, and Latin America, women also aren’t protected against employment discrimination.
The report found that most countries do not have adequate childcare laws, further reducing women’s labor participation. Less than one-half of the 190 countries analyzed offer financial support for parents.
“Today, barely half of women participate in the global workforce, compared with nearly three out of every four men. This is not just unfair—it’s wasteful,” Tea Trumbic, manager for the Women, Business, and the Law project at the World Bank, and the report’s lead author, said in a statement. “Increasing women’s economic participation is the key to amplifying their voices and shaping decisions that affect them directly. Countries simply cannot afford to sideline half of their population.”
Satellite view. Despite being the wealthiest country in the world by GDP, according to the International Monetary Fund, the US still has a sizable gender pay and equity gap, and is one of just a few wealthy countries, including Japan and China, that does not mandate pay equality. Some companies, like L’Oreal and Intel, share their pay parity journeys publicly, while states like California, Colorado, and Washington have introduced transparency regulations to help close the gap, HR Brew previously reported.
For now, Barbieland remains a fantasy.