Women, Business and the Law

Overview

Women, Business and the Law 2020 represents the sixth edition in a World Bank Group series analyzing laws and regulations affecting women's economic inclusion across 190 economies. The report employs the Women, Business and the Law Index, which comprises eight indicators structured around women's interactions with the law as they navigate different stages of their careers: Mobility, Workplace, Pay, Marriage, Parenthood, Entrepreneurship, Assets, and Pension. These indicators align different areas of law with economic decisions women make at various life stages. The dataset updates all indicators as of September 1, 2019, and aims to provide objective, measurable benchmarks for assessing global progress toward gender equality. The initiative seeks to enhance the study of gender equality while informing policy discussions on improving women's economic opportunities and empowerment.

Methods and approach

The analytical framework structures the eight indicators around women's interactions with legal systems as they begin, progress through, and end their careers. Each indicator corresponds to specific areas of law that affect economic decisions at different life stages. The report examines the pace of legal reforms over the preceding two years, tracking changes in legal frameworks across 190 economies. Data collection involves sending specialized survey questionnaires to vetted experts, with all submissions validated against codified laws and official government sources to ensure accuracy and comparability. The methodology emphasizes cross-economy comparability and provides detailed economy-level profiles examining how laws shape women's economic participation.

Results

The 2020 edition documents the state of women's economic opportunities across 190 economies as of September 1, 2019, measuring legal gender equality through eight distinct indicators. The report builds evidence around linkages between legal gender equality and women's economic inclusion, examining reform patterns across the two-year period prior to data collection. The analysis reveals both progress made in advancing legal frameworks supporting women's economic participation and persistent gaps requiring further policy attention. The dataset enables identification of specific legal barriers across different career stages and life decisions, from initial labor market entry through retirement planning. Economy-level profiles detail variations in legal treatment across the eight indicator areas.

Implications

The report contributes to research and policy discussions regarding women's economic opportunities and empowerment by providing standardized, comparable data on legal frameworks affecting economic participation. The evidence on linkages between legal gender equality and economic inclusion informs policy development aimed at removing barriers to women's workforce participation and entrepreneurship. While documenting achievements in legal reform, the analysis emphasizes remaining work required to ensure economic empowerment across all economies and demographic groups. The dataset serves as a benchmarking tool for tracking progress over time and identifying priority areas for legal reform. The framework's alignment of legal areas with women's economic decision-making across career stages provides a structured approach for targeting policy interventions.