“Women – Business and Law 2018”: to improve labor legislation for women

The economy cannot develop with its full potential as long as men and women are not fully involved in the development of the country. The recently published World Bank report “Women- Business and Law 2018” assesses the laws relating to women’s employment and entrepreneurship in 189 economies in the world and presents 87 legal reforms implemented in the field of women’s economic opportunities and gender equality over the past two years.

According to the report, one out of 25 countries included in the European and Central Asian region, is Armenia, where a quarter of women’s employment issue reforms has been globally implemented. With this index, the countries have become the industry’s leaders. Over the past two years, countries in Europe and Central Asia have implemented 15 legal reforms, enhancing the opportunities for women to participate in economic activities. At the same time, these countries are slowing down violence, especially at the workplace when women take action to protect them. 72% of the countries have special commissions that recognize gender discrimination.

The report authors used a 100-point system, evaluating the progress of reform programs in seven countries by seven indicators –  access to institutions, promotion of employment, judicial system as well as access to credit, protection of women from violence, employment, property management. It is noted that no country has collected the maximum of 100 points for each of the seven indicators. Great Britain, New Zealand and Spain are among the countries with good results for almost all indicators.

Describing changes in the world over the last two years, the authors of the report state that 87 legal reforms in 67 countries have been implemented in the field of gender equality.

The report also emphasizes the fact that gender gap in the labor market on average reduces incomes in developed countries by 15%. In developing countries, these losses are more and, in general, gender discrimination directly hinders economic growth in the labor market. The report notes that in countries where the gender equality principle is enshrined in the labor law, the percentage of women in the labor market is higher and their income is high.

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