KarunaNews Story

Both women and men are likely to live longer as a country becomes more gender equal. A new global study found that overall, in 2021, for each 10% increase in the modified gender gap index, there was a 3.6-year increase in women's life expectancy and a 2.9-year increase for men. Highlighting economic challenges women face, unleashing the full potential of half the world's population will require changing social norms and implementing gender-sensitive policies like adequate parental leave and flexible hours, the study says. This has taken on a new urgency: The World Economic Forum, whose "modified global gender gap index" compiled between 2010 and 2021 was used to look at gender equality in 156 countries, estimates that COVID increased the time it will take to close the global gender gap by an entire generation -- from 99.5 years to 135.6 years.