By Damilola Abiola
Laws aimed at ensuring equal economic opportunities for women are only half-enforced worldwide, underscoring deeper barriers to growth and job creation than previously understood, according to a new report by the World Bank Group.
The latest Women, Business and the Law report found that while many countries have enacted legislation to promote gender equality, implementation lags significantly. On average, countries score 67 out of 100 for the adequacy of laws supporting economic equality between women and men. That figure drops to 53 when enforcement is assessed, and falls further to 47 when measuring the systems needed to implement those rights.
“On paper, most countries are doing reasonably well,” said Indermit Gill, the World Bank Group’s Chief Economist and Senior Vice President for Development Economics. “But when it comes to enforcing the laws, the average score drops sharply. These numbers reflect huge opportunity gaps.”
For the first time, the report evaluates not only the legal frameworks in place but also how effectively they are enforced. Legal experts surveyed estimated that laws encouraging women’s full economic participation are enforced only about half the time. Even if fully enforced, women would still enjoy barely two-thirds of the legal rights of men globally.
Only 4% of women live in economies that provide near full legal equality, the report said, limiting countries’ ability to reach their full economic potential.
Women, Business and the Law measures women’s economic participation across 10 areas, including safety from violence, access to childcare, entrepreneurship, employment protections, asset ownership and retirement security.
Safety from violence emerged as a major shortcoming. “True equality begins with safety,” said Norman Loayza, Director of the World Bank’s Policy Indicators Group. “Globally, we’re falling short. We have only a third of the safety laws we need, and enforcement is failing 80% of the time.”
Entrepreneurship is another weak area. While women can start businesses on the same legal terms as men in nearly all economies, only about half promote equal access to credit, restricting women entrepreneurs’ ability to secure financing.
Childcare support also remains limited. Fewer than half of the 190 economies surveyed provide financial or tax support for families, and only 30% of the policies needed to ensure affordable, high-quality childcare services are in place. In low-income economies, just 1% of childcare support mechanisms exist.
Tea Trumbic, the report’s lead author, warned that the stakes are rising. “Over the next decade, 1.2 billion young people, half of them girls, will enter the workforce,” she said. “Ensuring equal opportunity for women benefits societies as a whole. It’s an economic must-have, not just a nice-to-have.”
Despite persistent gaps, the report noted progress. Over the past two years, 68 economies enacted 113 legal reforms to expand women’s economic opportunities, with advances concentrated in entrepreneurship and protection from violence. Seven countries expanded paternity leave to help redistribute caregiving responsibilities.
Sub-Saharan Africa recorded the highest number of reforms, with 33 changes across the region. Madagascar and Somalia lifted prohibitions on women working in sectors such as construction, manufacturing and agriculture.
Egypt emerged as the top reformer globally, increasing its legal equality score by nearly 10 points after extending paid maternity leave from 90 to 120 days, introducing one day of paid leave for fathers, mandating equal pay and allowing flexible work arrangements. Jordan and Oman also enacted reforms aimed at improving women’s economic participation.
The World Bank said bridging the enforcement gap will be critical to unlocking growth, particularly in developing economies where increased female participation could deliver significant gains in gross domestic product and employment.