PROFESSOR DYLAN JONES-EVANS

As many reports have noted during the last few years, achieving gender equality between men and women can make a real difference to economic prosperity across the World. One of the most important studies in this area is the Global Gender Gap Index from the World Economic Forum which annually benchmarks 156 countries across four key dimensions (Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment) and tracks progress towards closing these gaps over time. Whilst it would be natural to expect this gap to close every year, the 2022 report suggest that there has been slowing down in the achievement of equality across the World and this has been driven largely by a decline in large countries. This means that, given this data, it will take over 135 years to close the gender gap worldwide. Of course, this gap is not the same everywhere with Iceland yet again leading the way as the most gender-equal country in the world. Indeed, the othe...

  It is safe to say that one of the most important innovations of the last twenty years of devolution is the Well-being of Future Generations Act of 2015.  This requires 44 public bodies in Wales - including Welsh Government ministers, local authorities and NHS Trusts - to think about the long-term impact of their decisions, to work better with people, communities and each other, and to prevent persistent problems such as poverty, health inequalities and climate change.  As with the tax on plastic bags, Wales has taken the lead across the UK in this policy innovation and given that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, there are now moves to replicate the Welsh Act with Future Generations Bill recently introduced to the House of Lords by the founder of the Big Issue, Lord Bird. For Wales, the Act has provided a focus in improving the social, cultural, environmental and economic well-being of Wales by putting in seven goals which including creating a healthier and m...

Reducing the gender gap between men and women still remains a concern in many countries. In fact, a recent report from the World Economic Forum suggests that there has actually been a recent slowdown in progress on this issue. Using a range of data sources to examine women’s participation in relation to health, education, economic opportunity and politics, the 2016 Global Gender Gap Report shows that if current trends continue, then a baby girl born today will only see the gender gap close if she lives to 83. In other words, with only 59 per cent of the economic gender gap having been closed across the World’s countries, there is considerable work left to done to ensure that the talent of the whole population is fully utilised. Whilst many may think that it is the developing world that may be dragging its heels on this equality agenda especially in relation to the workplace, the study actually shows that the sharpest decline in the economic gender gap has been in North Americ...