SINGAPORE, Oct 26 — More can be done in the area of political empowerment between genders in Singapore, said a report from the World Economic Forum (WEF).
That said, the Republic has made improvements in closing the gender gap over the past 10 years, the WEF’s Global Gender Gap report put Singapore at 55th place, out of 144 nations.
This was an improvement over its 2006 showing of 65th place, out of 115 nations.
The report measures progress towards parity between men and women in four areas: Educational attainment, health and survival, economic opportunity and political empowerment.
The scores are measured in ratios, and the highest possible score is 1 (perfect parity), and the lowest is a 0, which indicates greatest disparity.
The Republic scored the lowest in the sub-index of political empowerment, which measures the gap between men and women at the highest level of political decision-making through the ratio of women to men in minister-level positions; and the ratio of women to men in parliamentary positions.
It found that 94 per cent of ministerial positions are held by men, while 76 per cent of parliamentarians were men.
Meanwhile, males in Singapore were found to earn more than their female counterparts — an average annual salary of US$75,000 (RM311,103, measured in Purchasing Power Parity), compared to US$67,074 for females.
Males here had higher workforce participation — at 82 per cent — compared to females at 66 per cent; with the disparity more pronounced in those working in the roles of legislators, senior officials and managers (66 per cent males, to 34 per cent females).
The gap was closer in the areas of education and health: Literacy rates for Singaporean males stood at 99 per cent, while it was 95 per cent for females.
In the global rankings, the WEF warned that efforts to close gender gaps in pay and workforce participation slowed so dramatically in the past year that men and women may not reach economic equality for another 170 years. — TODAY
