WORLD Policy Analysis Center

Equality within Our Lifetimes: How Laws and Policies Can Close – or Widen – Gender Gaps in Economies Worldwide

Well into the 21st century, the scale and impacts of gender inequality in the economy remain staggering. Moreover, progress has stalled in key areas. Yet the global gender gaps in employment, pay, and leadership aren’t simply the result of historic discrimination, cultural bias, or individual choices—they’re driven directly by laws and policies.

Authored by WORLD’s Jody Heymann, Aleta Sprague, and Amy Raub, Equality within Our Lifetimes: How Laws and Policies Can Close – or Widen – Gender Gaps in Economies Worldwide, shows how legal inequalities continue to fuel disparities in the economy, even though ample evidence demonstrates how changing laws can be transformative. Freely downloadable and published in February 2023 by the University of California Press, Equality within Our Lifetimes is a systematic analysis of where the world stands, how far we’ve come, and how far we have to go when it comes to adopting laws and policies that are critical to advancing gender equality in the economy. Spanning topics including girls' education, workplace discrimination and sexual harassment, and caregiving needs throughout the life course, the book weaves together global policy data from 193 countries, rigorous research evidence, and powerful case studies of how to make change.

Click below to download Equality within Our Lifetimes, and explore our supplementary resources to learn more about the data, visuals, research, and stories presented in the book.

Resources

Policy Briefs
- Discrimination
  - Gender Discrimination and Caregiving Discrimination at Work (in Spanish and in French)
  - Addressing Multiple Sources to Discrimination at Work (in Spanish and in French)
  - Realizing the Promise of Gender Equality Laws (in Spanish and in French)
  - Age Discrimination at Work (in Spanish and in French)
  - Racial/Ethnic Discrimination at Work (in Spanish and in French)
- Sexual Harassment
  - Protecting Against Sexual Harassment at Work (in Spanish and in French)
  - Preventing Gender Discrimination and Sexual Harassment at Work (in Spanish and in French)
- Caregiving
Videos
- Civil society can play a powerful role in advancing gender equality across countries. In the videos below, we hear from civil society leaders in their own words about powerful efforts to pass new laws, monitor and strengthen those laws’ impact, create new programs to fulfill laws’ purpose, and support movements to advance gender equality around the world.
  - Sonke Gender Justice - South Africa-based, working across Africa
    - Introductions: social justice short feature
    - An in-depth look: driving legislative and policy change
  - Mobile Creches - India
    - Introductions: social justice short feature
    - An in-depth look: driving legislative and policy change
  - SADAQA - Jordan
    - Introductions: social justice short feature
    - An in-depth look: driving legislative and policy change
  - Equality Now - Global
    - Introductions: social justice short feature
    - An in-depth look: driving legislative and policy change
  - Institute for Social & Economic Rights (ISER) - Uganda
    - Introductions: social justice short feature
    - An in-depth look: driving legislative and policy change
  - Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) - India
    - Introductions: social justice short feature
    - An in-depth look: driving legislative and policy change
Learn more about our methods
Review the book's data tables

Media Contact

Nicholas Perry

Dissemination Manager and Senior Research Analyst

WORLD Policy Analysis Center

E-mail: nperry@ph.ucla.edu

Phone: (310) 983-3350