Gender Development Index

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Created by Ajay Kumar
Last edited August 29, 2023

The Gender Development Index (GDI) is an index designed to measure gender equality.

GDI, together with the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM), was introduced in 1995 in the Human Development Report written by the United Nations Development Program. These measurements aimed to add a gender-sensitive dimension to the Human Development Index (HDI). The first measurement that they created as a result was the GDI. The GDI is defined as a "distribution-sensitive measure that accounts for the human development impact of existing gender gaps in the three components of the HDI" (Klasen 243). Distribution sensitivity means that the GDI takes into account not only the averaged or general level of well-being and wealth within a given country, but focuses also on how this wealth and well-being is distributed between different groups within society. The HDI and the GDI (as well as the GEM) were created to rival the more traditional general income-based measures of development such as gross domestic product (GDP) and gross national product (GNP).[1]

Definition and calculation

The GDI is often considered a "gender-sensitive extension of the HDI" (Klasen 245). It addresses gender-gaps in life expectancy, education, and incomes. It uses an "inequality aversion" penalty, which creates a development score penalty for gender gaps in any of the categories of the Human Development Index (HDI) which include life expectancy, adult literacy, school enrollment, and logarithmic transformations of per-capita income. In terms of life expectancy, the GDI assumes that women will live an average of five years longer than men. Additionally, in terms of income, the GDI considers income-gaps in terms of actual earned income.[1] The GDI cannot be used independently from the HDI score, and so, it cannot be used on its own as an indicator of gender gaps. Only the gap between the HDI and the GDI can actually be accurately considered; the GDI on its own is not an independent measure of gender gaps.[2]

Gender Development Index (2018)

Below is a list of countries by their Gender Development Index, based on data collected in 2018, and published in 2019.[3] Countries are grouped into five groups based on the absolute deviation from gender parity in HDI values, from 1 (closest to gender parity) to 5 (furthest from gender parity). This means that grouping takes equally into consideration gender gaps favoring males, as well as those favoring females.

World map showing countries in Group 1 to 5 of the Gender Development Index (based on 2018 data, published in 2019). Countries in Group 1 are closest to gender parity, while those in Group 5 are furthest (i.e. have the greatest gender disparity).
Template:Legend Template:Legend Template:Legend Template:Legend Template:Legend Template:Legend
2018
rank 		Country Gender Development Index Group Human Development Index
(women) 		Human Development Index
(men)
1 Template:Flag 0.999271313598908 1 0.802241545091312 0.802826553883562
2 Template:Flag 0.998616111258415 1 0.814121946939387 0.815250162460792
3 Template:Flag 1.00211774602851 1 0.797989701033099 0.796303332812547
4 Template:Flag 1.00257442927832 1 0.901787072451453 0.899471446823739
5 Template:Flag 1.00272297523169 1 0.693389879484458 0.691506923259876
6 Template:Flag 1.00324890931813 1 0.421654103634997 0.420288624008154
7 Template:Flag 1.00339001174288 1 0.744042111285307 0.741528321567516
8 Template:Flag 1.00369597615498 1 0.712223593546365 0.709600925446362
9 Template:Flag 0.995480861692473 1 0.762715746885023 0.766178212194142
10 Template:Flag 1.00461251995559 1 0.793862458409325 0.790217564125534
11 Template:Flag 0.995122669191676 1 0.745224174704749 0.748876694076404
12 Template:Flag 0.995109362655928 1 0.757109191363106 0.760830135636948
13 Template:Flag 1.00705674095832 1 0.713558080174709 0.70855797012558
14 Template:Flag 0.992621622836447 1 0.811903568014688 0.817938627706547
15 Template:Flag 0.992371676979385 1 0.852080306845641 0.858630215484618
16 Template:Flag 1.00854973881397 1 0.874194924380356 0.86678414632122
17 Template:Flag 0.99144743381844 1 0.914844606387427 0.922736370262227
18 Template:Flag 1.0094706476123 1 0.647427874518634 0.641353838321097
19 Template:Flag 0.990437581014824 1 0.94564679665501 0.954776772187986
20 Template:Flag 0.989817373600636 1 0.919751993696064 0.929213830982077
21 Template:Flag 1.01032361432783 1 0.816388101546477 0.808046144788592
22 Template:Flag 1.010339927488 1 0.819686875325532 0.811298111679611
23 Template:Flag 0.989531869461814 1 0.723041706146159 0.730690671478228
24 Template:Flag 0.989058149729888 1 0.915888363975847 0.926020744307072
25 Template:Flag 0.98859213038971 1 0.832316431348996 0.841920955835336
26 Template:Flag 0.98814794506132 1 0.929356109430028 0.940503002687878
27 Template:Flag 0.987919014775328 1 0.817640023795134 0.827638714880978
28 Template:Flag 1.01272311153934 1 0.728475070383083 0.719323043073244
29 Template:Flag 0.986891147195856 1 0.836720430865344 0.847834569438376
30 Template:Flag 1.01321583363332 1 0.654849103183038 0.646307609342023
31 Template:Flag 0.986296673191879 1 0.754714364824177 0.765200152588724
32 Template:Flag 0.986261546538915 1 0.809420161886165 0.820695245319724
33 Template:Flag 0.986030910048998 1 0.718965693897112 0.729151273626285
34 Template:Flag 1.01499805083001 1 0.828317933961805 0.816078349396287
35 Template:Flag 0.98439750467821 1 0.883037148032378 0.897033102822659
36 Template:Flag 1.01574985871536 1 0.885869263158098 0.872133287105225
37 Template:Flag 0.984153359434317 1 0.698296318804934 0.709540146473014
38 Template:Flag 0.984006569463407 1 0.842559344988258 0.856253780345916
39 Template:Flag 1.01607193850868 1 0.809691228698831 0.79688376187934
40 Template:Flag 0.983855072217788 1 0.836374771060734 0.850099567180554
41 Template:Flag 0.98384439453558 1 0.644164225448235 0.654741978534431
42 Template:Flag 0.983090727880394 1 0.864740933228215 0.879614575444782
43 Template:Flag 0.983021479607738 1 0.881578351276749 0.896804769340881
44 Template:Flag 0.982811514946144 1 0.712983445231243 0.725452881237674
45 Template:Flag 0.981817713523961 1 0.927549412691099 0.944726704269694
46 Template:Flag 0.98068365758681 1 0.881897607495364 0.899268179573288
47 Template:Flag 0.980461996197969 1 0.920118047343707 0.938453556498605
48 Template:Flag 0.979876022499264 1 0.747701339556282 0.763057083128946
49 Template:Flag 0.978843828928938 1 0.774556381501532 0.791297200442139
50 Template:Flag 0.977136852016496 1 0.781504112645575 0.799789825788274
51 Template:Flag 0.976487130681848 1 0.901210670433948 0.92291095511383
52 Template:Flag 0.976372480770375 1 0.789117394155053 0.808213473542829
53 Template:Flag 0.975113503181452 1 0.925664958786577 0.949289447604262
54 Template:Flag 0.974930720274505 2 0.928842297989999 0.9527264642235
55 Template:Flag 0.974776845288729 2 0.734104181262105 0.753099732323518
56 Template:Flag 1.02554956311433 2 0.522151801801454 0.50914341011059
57 Template:Flag 0.973598560971563 2 0.781958849986583 0.803163522762666
58 Template:Flag 0.973439493655793 2 0.655984723050024 0.673883407572098
59 Template:Flag 0.972097105538784 2 0.745713315885668 0.767118132166803
60 Template:Flag 1.02801557456846 2 0.880350319739633 0.856358932216745
61 Template:Flag 0.971637285832976 2 0.904498199776896 0.93090108105668
62 Template:Flag 0.971619589838185 2 0.710079630808469 0.730820619751736
63 Template:Flag 0.971565636624078 2 0.89085212219952 0.916924280375936
64 Template:Flag 0.971535181068249 2 0.791500865872141 0.814690894674394
65 Template:Flag 0.971302380112087 2 0.778864159321813 0.801876094684266
66 Template:Flag 0.970407383075693 2 0.611426703399936 0.630072188303048
67 Template:Flag 0.970263947573514 2 0.893206480322808 0.920580922909261
68 Template:Flag 1.03040141727652 2 0.86528356437401 0.839753856959034
69 Template:Flag 1.03051247212425 2 0.745684609993285 0.723605613871095
70 Template:Flag 0.969303900072772 2 0.65414310778579 0.67485863591045
71 Template:Flag 0.968046731183915 2 0.922788125514936 0.953247499102003
72 Template:Flag 0.968014313475195 2 0.710081665159304 0.733544592548527
73 Template:Flag 0.967274986133354 2 0.865859235918938 0.895153134663575
74 Template:Flag 0.96671693364499 2 0.903526469774669 0.934633953672392
75 Template:Flag 0.966586563190941 2 0.915682504422063 0.94733626484437
76 Template:Flag 0.966035360302579 2 0.921422694662473 0.953818806771077
77 Template:Flag 0.965505839872185 2 0.800863981950797 0.829476062057601
78 Template:Flag 0.965148016786254 2 0.831679159131191 0.861711514364929
79 Template:Flag 0.964573668396 2 0.867003905508653 0.898846748481537
80 Template:Flag 0.963450079812055 2 0.901877659315533 0.936091737613916
81 Template:Flag 0.963384994370094 2 0.924302891740428 0.959432518818482
82 Template:Flag 0.96331458591632 2 0.91883629861405 0.953827868951074
83 Template:Flag 0.962992625875126 2 0.894949094941461 0.929341586731435
84 Template:Flag 0.96272210220035 2 0.854140900297802 0.887214387563783
85 Template:Flag 0.962280698092814 2 0.594969468404531 0.618290972253447
86 Template:Flag 0.961896022109213 2 0.827637034592205 0.860422556668226
87 Template:Flag 0.960737178700119 2 0.7411723134053 0.771462091649362
88 Template:Flag 0.959354156976191 2 0.655758696158308 0.683541830084114
89 Template:Flag 0.957251775460597 2 0.747167434728433 0.780533871947035
90 Template:Flag 1.04338023447896 2 0.87328373892252 0.836975543588494
91 Template:Flag 0.953281245175706 2 0.566167394183869 0.593914332259327
92 Template:Flag 0.951068629111926 2 0.73835574021778 0.776343281249042
93 Template:Flag 0.949346763894446 3 0.575199531528163 0.60588981118823
94 Template:Flag 0.94847909440168 3 0.752740766990656 0.793629265456294
95 Template:Flag 0.946858477421388 3 0.736774749145141 0.778125524261687
96 Template:Flag 0.946436637249011 3 0.504225253132795 0.532761764800671
97 Template:Flag 0.944301733548051 3 0.691914784976437 0.732726373779583
98 Template:Flag 0.943001743676744 3 0.628457412659945 0.666443531917134
99 Template:Flag 0.942983702163843 3 0.519691032216798 0.551113482687214
100 Template:Flag 0.942644918586126 3 0.792879654368817 0.841122291899752
– World average 0.941430799701876 – 0.706980962068851 0.750964343096414
101 Template:Flag 0.94043401604125 3 0.728006586417231 0.774117666948894
102 Template:Flag 0.938974186367784 3 0.689217295551526 0.734010908454909
103 Template:Flag 0.938530667537194 3 0.685437015702195 0.730329907599989
104 Template:Flag 0.937501402709405 3 0.749425007262443 0.799385478354042
105 Template:Flag 0.937278216882204 3 0.681319036769408 0.726912270548411
106 Template:Flag 0.936580181665306 3 0.799753662146286 0.853908376242029
107 Template:Flag 0.936071128421922 3 0.677681643411889 0.723963834408994
108 Template:Flag 0.93556520183438 3 0.509116716427692 0.54418090308346
109 Template:Flag 0.933514804909621 3 0.869859990274136 0.931811671008637
110 Template:Flag 0.93334124890745 3 0.553446092043308 0.592972926773739
111 Template:Flag 0.930834633256552 3 0.670350699455828 0.720160891640427
112 Template:Flag 0.930508381323755 3 0.590608226344738 0.63471564383389
113 Template:Flag 0.929979500928547 3 0.466256425669024 0.501362046371437
114 Template:Flag 0.929388949637999 3 0.580896379268115 0.625030434775856
115 Template:Flag 0.924865126473049 4 0.540217146902477 0.584103704896499
116 Template:Flag 0.923845887665176 4 0.770530112179602 0.834046156904971
117 Template:Flag 0.92376150833791 4 0.735305564655512 0.795990694587958
118 Template:Flag 0.919132552991075 4 0.556669111249323 0.605646170879042
119 Template:Flag 0.917044836281997 4 0.668897563298245 0.72940551741197
120 Template:Flag 0.912066262295093 4 0.567120060412223 0.621796994206474
121 Template:Flag 0.901852522177659 4 0.545524138209497 0.60489284533157
122 Template:Flag 0.901399241057088 4 0.42171001631638 0.467839329243092
123 Template:Flag 0.899721720272795 5 0.571432940029916 0.635121868411333
124 Template:Flag 0.899338643290567 5 0.589475390655512 0.655454310846352
125 Template:Flag 0.898619930984625 5 0.437938141035413 0.487345234548226
126 Template:Flag 0.898516211947261 5 0.68930089658175 0.767154657218593
127 Template:Flag 0.897374748629354 5 0.548886325033576 0.611657867431575
128 Template:Flag 0.895463713494037 5 0.574538067712771 0.64160954715961
129 Template:Flag 0.893345815434905 5 0.580503137357053 0.649807865361129
130 Template:Flag 0.890577064263023 5 0.678454800871403 0.761814814344947
131 Template:Flag 0.890365827551326 5 0.477397671690552 0.536181485090781
132 Template:Flag 0.888069540927266 5 0.504017390629825 0.567542706288025
133 Template:Flag 0.883486835760026 5 0.485715005319931 0.549770506656267
134 Template:Flag 0.882483208929897 5 0.410599830153055 0.465277782056556
135 Template:Flag 0.879136805709795 5 0.784333088515893 0.892162725325372
136 Template:Flag 0.878316588012583 5 0.64266778257163 0.731704024884503
137 Template:Flag 0.874690316250611 5 0.403149171515835 0.460905035789063
138 Template:Flag 0.873999741121421 5 0.726849370286313 0.831635681440477
139 Template:Flag 0.87347139391351 5 0.475960252557682 0.544906514253643
140 Template:Flag 0.871346924588787 5 0.623519218495938 0.71558090227976
141 Template:Flag 0.86892158600649 5 0.522007757584777 0.600753584663367
142 Template:Flag 0.868301159101109 5 0.654288917853024 0.753527633811249
143 Template:Flag 0.867675972564795 5 0.491676192340555 0.566658761896094
144 Template:Flag 0.864588565403417 5 0.684971930096163 0.792251895879002
145 Template:Flag 0.86268775649487 5 0.48376445336274 0.56076425070444
146 Template:Flag 0.852934961025278 5 0.479113168207732 0.561722980181056
147 Template:Flag 0.844045244422387 5 0.418857464866842 0.496250014599019
148 Template:Flag 0.843899175273984 5 0.42770052294657 0.506814718485429
149 Template:Flag 0.838915228792041 5 0.368735499184939 0.439538449809623
150 Template:Flag 0.836500123073206 5 0.456500034277483 0.545726200972158
151 Template:Flag 0.832807050749792 5 0.602993983556629 0.724050046182658
152 Template:Flag 0.832110339375305 5 0.415697194375194 0.499569798264101
153 Template:Flag 0.828659271423645 5 0.573650381208353 0.692263275136976
154 Template:Flag 0.817890855118709 5 0.458991965749326 0.561189751513615
155 Template:Flag 0.807099598839839 5 0.380140424771307 0.470995680480746
156 Template:Flag 0.80606657004618 5 0.41342656240414 0.512893820147453
157 Template:Flag 0.798555909314393 5 0.561341006774011 0.702945154154523
158 Template:Flag 0.796251100904936 5 0.445376820642565 0.559342172508641
159 Template:Flag 0.795444752528615 5 0.335149259100481 0.421335684263534
160 Template:Flag 0.79532319946114 5 0.457372222910504 0.57507718022106
161 Template:Flag 0.789324230426714 5 0.587352897134761 0.744121204561571
162 Template:Flag 0.774452360811538 5 0.347398235861034 0.448572763723
163 Template:Flag 0.746878273640409 5 0.464284284133844 0.621633136911112
164 Template:Flag 0.722861973965333 5 0.410756365978411 0.568236234263597
165 Template:Flag 0.457536126892644 5 0.244873082377673 0.5351994476168
166 Template:Flag 0.298179843688684 5 0.129771161871938 0.435211046684383

Controversies

General debates

In the years since its creation in 1995, much debate has arisen surrounding the reliability, and usefulness of the Gender Development Index (GDI) in making adequate comparisons between different countries and in promoting gender-sensitive development. The GDI is particularly criticized for being often mistakenly interpreted as an independent measure of gender gaps when it is not, in fact, intended to be interpreted in that way, because it can only be used in combination with the scores from the Human Development Index, but not on its own. Additionally, the data that is needed in order to calculate the GDI is not always readily available in many countries, making the measure very hard to calculate uniformly and internationally. There is also worry that the combination of so many different developmental influences in one measurement could result in muddled results and that perhaps the GDI (and the GEM) actually hide more than they reveal.[1]

Criticism on Life Expectancy adjustment

More specifically, there has been a lot of criticism over the Life-Expectancy component of the GDI. As was mentioned previously, the GDI life expectancy section is adjusted by assuming that women will automatically live five years longer than men. This provision has been criticized on multiple grounds; e.g. it has been argued that if the GDI was really looking to promote true equality, it would strive to attain the same life-expectancy for women and men, despite what might be considered as "normalized" advantage. However paradoxical this may seem, in terms of policy implications this could be achieved through providing better treatment to males; which women rights organizations argue to be discriminatory against females. Yet, critics argue that UN provide a number of strategies and plans giving preferential treatment to women and girls, that is not seen as discriminatory towards men; not only for health issues but also for education or job opportunities.[4] Furthermore, it has been argued that the GDI does not account for sex-selective abortion, meaning that the penalty levied against a country for gender inequality is less because it affects less of the population (see Sen, Missing Women).[1]

Debates surrounding income gaps

Another area of debate surrounding the GDI is in the area of income gaps. The GDI considers income-gaps in terms of actual earned income. This has been said to be problematic because often, men may make more money than women, but their income is shared. Additionally, the GDI has been criticized because it does not consider the value of care work as well as other work performed in the informal sector (such as cleaning, cooking, housework, and childcare). Another criticism of the GDI is that it only takes gender into account as a factor for inequality; it does not, however, consider inequality among class, region or race, which could be very significant.[1] Another criticism with the income-gap portion of the GDI is that it is heavily dependent on gross domestic product (GDP) and gross national product (GNP). For most countries, the earned-income gap accounts for more than 90% of the gender penalty.

Suggested alternatives

As was suggested by Halis Akder in 1994, one alternative to the Gender Development Index (GDI) would be the calculation of a separate male and female Human Development Index (HDI). Another suggested alternative is the Gender Gap Measure which could be interpreted directly as a measure of gender inequality, instead of having to be compared to the HDI as the GDI is. It would average the female-male gaps in human development and use a gender-gap in labor force participation instead of earned income. In the 2010 Human Development Report, another alternative to the GDI, namely, the Gender Inequality Index (GII) was proposed in order to address some of the shortcomings of the GDI. This new experimental measure contains three dimensions: Reproductive Health, Empowerment, and Labor Market Participation.[2]

See also

Indices

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References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Klasen S. UNDP's Gender-Related Measures: Some Conceptual Problems and Possible Solutions. Journal of Human Development [serial online]. July 2006;7(2):243-274. Available from: EconLit with Full Text, Ipswich, MA. Accessed September 26, 2011.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Klasen, Stephan1; Schuler, Dana. Reforming the Gender-Related Development Index and the Gender Empowerment Measure: Implementing Some Specific Proposals. Feminist Economics. January 2011 (1) 1 - 30
  3. ↑ Gender Development Index (GDI).
  4. ↑ What we do. UN Women. Retrieved 2022-01-06.

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