Sounds like another reason to feel #PinoyPride, y’all.
The Philippines was the highest ranking Asian country in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report, a study measuring gender equality, which was released today.
Compared to all countries studied, the Philippines ranked eighth overall. Last year, the country was at 10th place globally.
The annual report, which started in 2006, ranks 149 countries and captures “the magnitude of gender-based disparities” and tracks their progress over the years. This year’s report captures gender parity in four subindexes: economic participation and opportunity; educational attainment; health and survival; and political empowerment.
Among all subindexes, the country scored highest in educational attainment, but it scored lowest on political empowerment.
The study noted that this year, there was a marked improvement in wage equality among Filipino men and women. It also showed that the Philipines is one of the few places in the world where men and women are equally likely to attain managerial positions in companies, joining the Bahamas, Colombia, Jamaica, and Laos.
It also showed that the country ranked higher than more prosperous Asian nations such as Japan (110th) and South Korea (115th).
Other Southeast Asian countries did not fare as well as the Philippines. Singapore was at 67th place, declining from its 65th position last year; Vietnam was at 77th place, declining from 69th; and Indonesia was at 85th, falling from 84th place. There was some improvement for Thailand, which ranked at 73rd, two spots higher than it’s ranking in 2017.
Many of those that topped the survey were Scandinavian countries. Iceland was found to be the most gender-equal country in the world, followed by Norway, Sweden, Finland, Nicaragua, Rwanda, and New Zealand.
