Women across the world enjoy barely two-thirds of the legal rights available to men, and laws designed to guarantee equal economic opportunities are enforced only half the time.
These findings are contained in a new report by the World Bank Group titled “Women, Business and the Law”, released on Tuesday.
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The report assesses not only the quality of the laws on the books but also their enforcement. It warns that the barriers preventing women from fully contributing to economic growth and prosperity are far steeper than previously thought, even in countries that have enacted equal-opportunity legislation.
Gaps between laws and enforcement
According to the report, the average country scores 67 out of 100 on the adequacy of laws designed to enable economic equality between women and men. However, when enforcement is assessed, the average score drops to 53. When the systems required to implement those rights are evaluated, the score falls further to 47.
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The findings also show that only four per cent of women globally live in economies that provide nearly full legal equality.
Indermit Gill, chief economist and senior vice president for Development Economics at the World Bank Group, said the disparity between legislation and implementation reflects significant gaps in opportunity.
Mr Gill noted that, while most countries appear to be doing reasonably well on paper, the average score drops significantly when it comes to enforcing the laws.
“These numbers reflect huge opportunity gaps and provide policymakers with intelligence to reverse the decline in the growth potential of developing economies,” he said.
Safety, childcare, entrepreneurship
The report assesses women’s economic participation across 10 key areas, including safety from violence, access to childcare, entrepreneurship, employment protections, asset ownership, and retirement security.
It identifies safety from violence as one of the most critical shortcomings.
Globally, only about one-third of the necessary legal protections are in place, and enforcement fails 80 per cent of the time.
Norman Loayza, Director of the World Bank’s Policy Indicators Group, said ensuring women’s safety is foundational to achieving economic equality.
He added that true equality begins with safety. Whether at home, at work, or in public, noting that women deserve protection to thrive. Globally, we are falling short.
Entrepreneurship is another area where progress remains uneven.
Although women can start businesses on the same legal terms as men in nearly all economies, only about half of countries promote equal access to credit, limiting women entrepreneurs’ ability to secure financing.
Childcare also remains a major constraint. The report notes that affordable and reliable childcare is one of the strongest predictors of whether parents, particularly mothers, can enter or remain in the workforce.
Yet fewer than half of the 190 economies surveyed have laws providing financial or tax support for families.
Among those, only 30 per cent of the necessary policies to support affordable and high-quality childcare services are in place. In low-income economies, just one per cent of childcare support mechanisms exist.
Demographic pressures and economic stakes
Tea Trumbic, Manager of the Women, Business and the Law project and the report’s lead author, said the economic case for reform is urgent.
Ms Trumbic noted that 1.2 billion young people, half of them girls, are expected to enter the workforce over the next decade, many in regions where women face the greatest barriers to employment.
“Ensuring equal opportunity for women benefits societies as a whole, not just women,” she said, describing gender equality as an economic necessity rather than a social luxury.
Reforms underway
Despite the enforcement gaps, the report highlights progress in strengthening equal-opportunity laws.
Over the past two years, 68 economies enacted 113 positive legal reforms affecting various aspects of women’s economic life. The most significant gains were recorded in entrepreneurship and safety from violence. Seven countries also expanded paternity leave to promote shared caregiving responsibilities.
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Sub-Saharan Africa, the report added, recorded the highest number of reforms, implementing 33 within the review period.
Madagascar and Somalia removed restrictions that had barred women from working in sectors such as construction, manufacturing and agriculture.
In the Middle East and North Africa region, Egypt, Jordan and Oman introduced reforms.
Egypt also emerged as the top reformer globally, increasing its legal equality score by nearly 10 points. The country extended paid maternity leave from 90 to 120 days, introduced one day of paid leave for fathers, mandated equal pay and allowed workers to request flexible work arrangements.
Call to action
The report emphasises that economies worldwide must act to turn legal equality into a lived reality.
In addition to finalising pending reforms and repealing discriminatory rules, governments must invest in the policies, institutions, data, and enforcement mechanisms needed to ensure that women’s legal rights translate into real opportunities.
Regarding legal reforms, the report noted that women’s economic participation is shaped across every aspect of their lives.
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