Gender Inequality Index
The Gender Inequality Index (GII) is a composite measure to quantify the loss of achievement within a country due to gender inequality. It was introduced in the 2010 Human Development Report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The index was introduced as an experimental measure to remedy the shortcomings of the previous indicators, the Gender Development Index (GDI) and the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM), both of which were introduced in the 1995 Human Development Report.
The GII uses three dimensions to measure opportunity cost:
- Reproductive Health
- Empowerment
- Labour Market Participation
According to the UNDP, none of the measures in the dimensions pertain to the country's development and therefore a less-developed country can perform well if gender inequality is low. The UNDP considers the dimensions complementary in that inequality in one dimension tends to affect inequality in another. Therefore, the GII captures association across dimensions, making the index association-sensitive, and ensuring that high achievement in one dimension does not compensate for low achievement in another dimension.
The value of GII range between 0 and 1, with 0 being 0% inequality, indicating women fare equally in comparison to men and 1 being 100% inequality, indicating women fare poorly in comparison to men. The GII is interpreted as a percentage and indicates the percentage of potential human development lost due to gender inequality.
The Gender Inequality Index (GII) is a composite measure to quantify the loss of achievement within a country due to gender inequality. It was introduced in the 2010 Human Development Report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The index was introduced as an experimental measure to remedy the shortcomings of the previous indicators, the Gender Development Index (GDI) and the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM), both of which were introduced in the 1995 Human Development Report.
The GII uses three dimensions to measure opportunity cost:
- Reproductive Health
- Empowerment
- Labour Market Participation
According to the UNDP, none of the measures in the dimensions pertain to the country's development and therefore a less-developed country can perform well if gender inequality is low. The UNDP considers the dimensions complementary in that inequality in one dimension tends to affect inequality in another. Therefore, the GII captures association across dimensions, making the index association-sensitive, and ensuring that high achievement in one dimension does not compensate for low achievement in another dimension.
The value of GII range between 0 and 1, with 0 being 0% inequality, indicating women fare equally in comparison to men and 1 being 100% inequality, indicating women fare poorly in comparison to men. The GII is interpreted as a percentage and indicates the percentage of potential human development lost due to gender inequality.
SUBJECT Variables
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
- India was ranked 134th amongst 193 countries on the Gender Inequality Index in 2022
- As of 2022, India had covered only 43.7% of its gender inequality gap (based on its score of 0.437), thus translating into a 56% gender inequality level in India.
- Gender inequality in India is at its lowest level since 2012.
- As of 2022, India had covered only 43.7% of its gender inequality gap, the lowest amongst its benchmarked G20 peers
- Gender inequality level in India edged marginally lower than the world average in 2022
PERFORMANCE FACTORS
The Gender Inequality Index is based on a country's performance in the following 5 areas within reproductive health, empowerment and labour market participation. The values for each performance factor pertain to the year of its observation and may not necessarily align with the year of the Index.
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