Business
Only 4% of women globally reside in countries that offer almost complete legal equality
Overview The World Bank Group’s latest report reveals a significant global gap between the enactment and actual enforcement of laws promoting women’s economic equality, with only 4% of women living in economies that provide near-full legal rights.
While many nations have made progress in passing equal-opportunity legislation, the lack of supporting policies and enforcement mechanisms means women still enjoy only about two-thirds of the legal rights afforded to men. Addressing these disparities in safety, childcare, and credit access is presented as an economic necessity to unlock global growth and support the 1.2 billion young people entering the workforce over the next decade.
Key Points
- Global laws designed to ensure economic opportunity for women are, on average, only half-enforced, and the systems needed to implement those rights score even lower at 47 out of 100.
- Even if current laws were fully enforced, women would still lack one-third of the legal rights granted to men.
- Safety from violence is a major deficiency; the world has only one-third of the necessary safety laws, and enforcement of existing protections fails 80% of the time.
- Access to affordable childcare is a critical predictor of women’s workforce participation, yet less than half of the 190 economies surveyed provide financial or tax support for families.
- While women can legally start businesses in most economies, only half of these countries promote equal access to credit, effectively locking women entrepreneurs out of necessary financing.
Despite enforcement challenges, 68 economies enacted 113 positive legal reforms over the last two years, with the most significant progress occurring in Sub-Saharan Africa. Egypt was identified as the world’s top reformer during the period, implementing changes such as expanded parental leave, mandated equal pay, and flexible work arrangements. Closing the gender gap is vital for the global economy, as half of the 1.2 billion people reaching working age in the next decade are girls who face significant barriers to entry in many regions.
Despite these challenges, progress is being made through legislative reforms. In the past two years, 68 economies have enacted 113 positive legal changes, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. Highlighting the economic urgency, the report notes that 1.2 billion young people will enter the workforce over the next decade, making gender equality a vital economic necessity rather than just a social goal.
Thailand demonstrates a mixed performance in women’s economic participation, generally outperforming regional and global averages in legal frameworks and enforcement perceptions, yet falling short in supportive implementation. While the country possesses strong legal protections in areas such as childcare, flexible work, and pay, a significant gap remains between established laws and the practical frameworks necessary to support them.
Key Findings for Thailand
- Thailand’s legal frameworks score (69) exceeds both the global average (66.97) and the East Asia and Pacific regional average (59.77), with particular strengths in work, pay, parenthood, and childcare.
- The country is one of only seven economies in its region that legally allows employees to request flexible work arrangements.
- Despite strong legal scores, the supportive frameworks score (33) is significantly lower than both the global and regional averages, indicating a deficit in the practical infrastructure needed to implement laws.
- Enforcement perceptions (53) are generally higher than regional averages, though they lag in specific categories such as safety, marriage, and entrepreneurship.
- In the two-year period from October 2023 to October 2025, Thailand did not enact any new reforms related to the Women, Business and the Law (WBL) metrics.
- Regional advantages are most prominent in the pillars of mobility, safety, and marriage within the supportive frameworks category, despite the overall low score in that pillar.
The absence of affordable childcare and adequate safety measures hinders GDP growth by limiting women’s ability to participate fully and consistently in the workforce. The report highlights that achieving gender equality is an essential economic imperative to unlock the full potential for growth and job creation.
The specific impacts are detailed below:
Impact of Inadequate Safety Protections
The document identifies safety from violence as a critical factor in a nation’s economic health:
- Work Consistency: Safety from violence is a “key shortcoming” that leaves women less able to work consistently. Without a secure environment at home, at work, or in public, women cannot thrive or contribute effectively to the economy.
- Enforcement Gap: Globally, countries have only one-third of the necessary safety laws. Furthermore, even when these laws exist, enforcement fails 80% of the time, maintaining steep barriers to prosperity.
- Growth Barriers: These safety hurdles are described as barriers that keep women from contributing fully to “growth and prosperity,” which is particularly detrimental to the growth potential of developing economies.
Impact of Lacking Affordable Childcare
The report highlights childcare as a primary predictor of economic mobility:
- Labor Force Participation: Affordable and reliable childcare is one of the strongest indicators of whether parents—and mothers specifically—can enter the workforce.
- Barriers to High-Productivity Jobs: Without childcare support, women are often unable to move into higher-productivity jobs, which limits the overall economic output of the nation.
- Severity in Low-Income Economies: While less than half of the world’s economies provide financial or tax support for childcare, the situation is most dire in low-income economies, where only 1% of the necessary childcare support mechanisms are in place. This lack of infrastructure prevents these nations from reaching their full potential to create jobs.
GDP Growth Potential and Future Workforce
The document connects these barriers to the long-term economic outlook of developing nations:
- Missed GDP Boost: Over the next decade, 1.2 billion young people will enter the workforce, half of whom are girls. Many of these individuals reside in regions where women face the largest barriers. The report notes that these are the same regions where the “GDP boost” resulting from women’s participation is “most needed.”
- Underutilized Human Capital: Currently, only 4% of women live in economies providing nearly full legal equality. The document states that the resulting “opportunity gaps” keep economies from reaching their full potential to grow.
- Economic Necessity: Closing these gaps is framed as a necessity to reverse the decline in the growth potential of developing economies. Providing equal opportunity is described as a strategy that benefits “societies as a whole, not just women.”
Despite these challenges, significant progress is being achieved through legislative reforms. Over the past two years, 68 economies have implemented 113 positive legal changes, with notable advancements in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. Emphasizing the economic urgency, the report highlights that 1.2 billion young people are projected to enter the workforce within the next decade, positioning gender equality as a critical economic necessity rather than merely a social objective.
The lack of affordable childcare and sufficient safety measures continues to hinder GDP growth by restricting women’s ability to fully and consistently participate in the workforce. The report underscores that achieving gender equality is not just a moral imperative but an essential economic driver to unlock the full potential for growth and job creation.