Here are the top 10 countries in the world for gender equality
- The World Economic Forum has just released their Global Gender Gap Report 2020, which looks at 153 countries and their progress made towards gender parity.
- This year's report rated Iceland as the country that has made the most progress towards gender equality, followed Norway, Finland, and Sweden.
- Other Western countries regressed in their rankings, including Australia, the UK, and the US.
- According to the report, it will take 257 years for women to have the same economic opportunities as men, though many countries have made strides in providing opportunities for women in other areas, like politics and education.
The World Economic Forum released their Global Gender Gap Report 2020, and it's not good news for Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom - all three have slipped in their rankings since 2018.
The report looks at 153 countries and their progress made towards gender parity, looking at four key areas including economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.
The report added that complete gender parity across the world is still about 100 years away.
"Gender parity has a fundamental bearing on whether or not economies and societies thrive," the index said.
According to the report, here are the top 10 countries closing the gender gap as we enter into the new decade:
- Iceland
- Norway
- Finland
- Sweden
- Nicaragua
- New Zealand
- Ireland
- Spain
- Rwanda
- Germany
Iceland claimed the top spot for the eleventh year in a row for the impressive number of women in politics, as well as for providing top educational and employment opportunities for women.
Notably, Spain made huge strides towards gender equality since the last index in 2018, jumping 21 spots to sit within the top 10.
Spain, Latvia, and Thailand, substantially increased the number of women in their parliaments, accelerating their scores. In 2018, Spain nominated the "world's most female-centric government," and gave a majority of its ministerial positions to women.
Additionally, Spain was among the most improved countries on the list, closing their gender gap by 3.4 percent or more.
Other Western countries regressed in their ranks.
The US fell two spots from 2018 and was placed in 53rd place globally. Australia, which in April was named the safest country in the world for women, fell five spots to number 44 globally. The UK came in spot 21, falling six places since the last index. Canada was placed in spot 19, falling three ranks since 2018.
The report said that gender parity has improved overall in the 108 years since the ranking system first started, but it indicated areas of improvement. In the global political arena, only 25% of parliamentary positions and 21% of ministerial positions are held by women.
Over the last 50 years, only 85 countries have had no female head of state.
Including women in politics has been shown to increase the "role model effect," according to the report, which increases the number of women in senior roles within the workforce.
"Improving political empowerment for women has, as a general rule, corresponded with increased numbers of women in senior roles in the labour market," the index said.
According to the report, it will take 257 years for women to have the same economic opportunities as men.
But several countries earned praise for the number of women in executive roles. In France, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Italy, women make up over one-third of a companies' board of directors.
In 72 countries, women are prevented from opening up a bank account or owning a credit card.
"At the federal level, greater political representation - and in some nations, any representation at all - for women is a pressing need," the report said.
"Looking ahead, policy-makers need to take action to better equip younger generations - particularly in developing nations - with the skills to succeed in the world of future jobs," it added.