Iceland has once again demonstrated itself to be the best place on earth for women to live, having finished first for the fifth year in a row with the world’s smallest gender gap.
Iceland ranked No. 1 in the latest Global Gender Gap Report, produced by the World Economic Forum. Women in Iceland enjoy the most equal access to education and healthcare and are most likely to participate fully in the country’s political and economic life, compared with all other nations, according to the survey.
The Scandinavian nations of Finland, Norway and Sweden followed Iceland in the rankings, whose top 10 were rounded out by the Philippines, Ireland, New Zealand, Denmark, Switzerland and Nicaragua.
The United States was ranked 23rd.
The U.S. came in first in many of the report’s subindexes, particularly in educational measurements, such as literacy and enrollment in primary and secondary education. But it was ranked 67th in “wage equality for similar work” and 76th for the number of women in Congress.
The report’s authors said the gender gap narrowed slightly across the globe in 2013, with 86 of 133 countries showing improvements.
Of the 136 nations surveyed, the five countries with the biggest gender gap were all predominately Muslim: Yemen, Pakistan, Chad, Syria and Mauritania.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
To Learn More:
Women Gain as Gender Gap 'Narrows' (BBC News)
The Global Gender Gap Report 2013 (World Economic Forum)
Iceland Ranked World’s Most Peaceful Nation, Somalia Worst; U.S. Improves to 82nd (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
Iceland Takes Gender Equality Lead; U.S. Falls to 31st (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
Norway Best Place to Live; United States 13th (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
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