WOMEN, BUSINESS AND THE LAW 2016

The report's data focus on seven indicators: accessing institutions, using property, getting a job, providing incentives to work, going to court, building credit and protecting women from violence. Other areas covered within these indicators include legislation on issues such as nondiscrimination in access to credit, care leave for sick relatives, the legal age of marriage and protection orders for victims of domestic violence. 

The previous edition of Women, Business and the Law found that 90% of economies measured had at least one law impeding women’s economic opportunities. This still holds true, even though this edition covers over 20% more economies.

Women, Business and the Law 2016 finds that lower legal gender equality is associated with fewer girls attending secondary school relative to boys, fewer women working or running businesses, and a wider gender wage gap. Where laws do not provide protection from domestic violence, women are likely to have shorter life spans. But where governments support childcare, women are more likely to receive wages.