by Ricardo Hausmann, guest columnist
We are all so affected by bad news on so many fronts – rising global inequality, a looming economic crisis, a warming planet, etc. – that we seldom take the time to savor the good news when they happen.
According to the latest gender related statistics published in the 2007 World Development Indicators (WDI) by the World Bank, the gaps between the sexes are going through a major shift worldwide. In 2006, literacy ratios of young women between the ages of 15 and 25 were higher than young men’s in 54 out of 123 countries.
If we look at secondary school enrollment, in 2004 there were 84 out of 171 countries in which girls outnumbered boys. At college level, this is also true in 83 out of 141 reporting countries.
Tertiary school enrollment in 2004: female vs. male
Note: Countries above the red dots have more women than men in tertiary enrollment
A similar story emerges when we look at labor force participation. In 2005, women represented on average 40.3 percent of the in a sample of 200 countries. The graph below shows the percentage of the labor force composed of women in 2005 in the horizontal axis and the change of this variable the 1990-2005 period. While 78 countries show declines, including Egypt, Turkey, Sudan and Georgia, 122 countries show increases, many of them quite substantial, including Iran and Libya.
Increase in female labor force as a percentage of the total labor force between 1990 and 2005 vs. female labor force in 2005
So, it is not just in the US that the education gender gap has reversed. This signals coming changes in the role of women in the family, the economy and in marriage. There is a growing literature trying to work out what forces this may unleash. Murat Iyigun and co-authors have been thinking about this in a series of papers (see this and this). More couples will have a more educated wife whose income earning capacity will exceed that of their husbands. How this will change power relationships and family roles is a fascinating topic.