The previous edition of Women, Business and the Law found that 90% of economies measured had at least one law impeding women’s economic opportunities. This still holds true, even though this edition covers over 20% more economies. However, over the past two years, 65 economies achieved 94 reforms increasing women’s economic opportunities. Most of these reforms took place in developing economies, with 19 in
Europe and Central Asia, 18 in Sub-Saharan Africa, and 16 in Latin America and the Caribbean. Economies in the Middle East and North Africa had 12 reforms, and those in East Asia and the Pacific had 11 reforms. The fewest reforms—3—were in South Asia.Women, Business and the Law 2016 finds that lower legal
gender equality is associated with fewer girls attending secondary school relative to boys, fewer women working or running businesses, and a wider gender wage gap. Where laws do not provide protection from domestic violence, women are likely to have shorter life spans. But where governments support childcare, women are more likely to receive wage.