Women’s economic opportunity laws only half enforced globally – World Bank report
Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - Laws aimed at guaranteeing equal economic opportunities for women are on average only half enforced worldwide, with just 4 percent of women living in economies that provide nearly full legal equality, according to a new report by the World Bank Group.
The report made available to PANA on Wednesday, says that even where laws exist, weak enforcement and limited implementation systems continue to hinder women’s full participation in economic life. It adds that, even if fully enforced, women would enjoy barely two-thirds of the legal rights available to men.
The latest edition of Women, Business and the Law assesses not only the adequacy of laws on the statute books but also the extent of their enforcement. Legal experts surveyed for the report estimate that laws promoting women’s economic participation are enforced at only about 50 percent of their intended capacity.
According to the findings, economies have in place fewer than half of the policies and services required to ensure proper enforcement. The report warns that this shortfall constrains growth and job creation.
“On paper, most countries are doing reasonably well: the average country scores 67 out of 100 on the adequacy of laws to enable economic equality between women and men,” said Indermit Gill, Chief Economist and Senior Vice President for Development Economics at the World Bank Group.
He added that the average score drops to 53 when enforcement is measured and falls further to 47 when assessing systems required to implement those rights, describing the gaps as significant constraints on development potential.
The report evaluates women’s economic participation across 10 areas, including protection from violence, childcare access, entrepreneurship, employment protections, asset ownership and retirement security.
It identifies safety from violence as a major weakness. Norman Loayza, Director of the World Bank’s Policy Indicators Group, said globally only about one-third of the necessary safety laws are in place, with enforcement failing in roughly 80 percent of cases.
Tea Trumbic, Manager of the Women, Business and the Law project and lead author of the report, noted that 1.2 billion young people — half of them girls — are expected to enter the workforce over the next decade, many in regions where women face the most significant legal and structural barriers.
Entrepreneurship is also cited as a low-scoring area. While women can legally start businesses on the same terms as men in nearly all economies, only about half promote equal access to credit, limiting women entrepreneurs’ ability to secure financing.
Childcare support remains limited. Fewer than half of the 190 economies covered provide financial or tax support for families. Among those that do, only 30 percent of the policies needed to ensure affordable and high-quality childcare services are in place. In low-income economies, just 1 percent of childcare support mechanisms are available.
Despite the gaps, the report records progress in legal reforms. Over the past two years, 68 economies enacted 113 reforms to improve women’s economic opportunities, particularly in entrepreneurship and protection from violence. Seven countries also expanded paternity leave provisions.
Sub-Saharan Africa recorded 33 reforms, the highest of any region. Madagascar and Somalia removed restrictions on women working in sectors such as construction, manufacturing and agriculture.
In the Middle East and North Africa, Egypt, Jordan and Oman introduced reforms. Egypt recorded the largest improvement globally over the past two years, increasing its legal equality score by nearly 10 points. Reforms there extended paid maternity leave from 90 to 120 days, introduced one day of paid leave for fathers, mandated equal pay and allowed requests for flexible work arrangements.
The report concludes that strengthening enforcement mechanisms and expanding support systems are critical to unlocking women’s economic potential worldwide.
-0- PANA MSS/MA 25Feb2026
