It seems Australia is losing the war on gender equality, ranking 20th in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index of 134 countries, down from 15th in 2006.
Nordic countries – Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden – topped the list, while South Africa and Lesotho entered the list of the top 10 countries for the first time.
According to the index, while many nations have made progress towards gender equality, no country has closed the gap when it comes to economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, political empowerment, and health and survival.
Australia ranked 60th for wage equality for similar work, and 50th for labour force participation – down from 41st in 2007, despite more women entering the workforce in that time.
ACTU president, Sharan Burrow, said Australian women had been particularly vulnerable to losing their jobs during the economic downturn.
“The financial crisis has further slowed any progress to achieving true equity in the workplace, and the great risk is that inequality for women and girls will become embedded,” she said.
At the bottom of the list were Qatar, Egypt, Mali, Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Benin, Pakistan, Chad and Yemen.
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