The U.N. believes that every person should have access to decent standards of living, knowledge, and health. In reality, inequality occurs at the international, regional, and local levels. It also occurs between males and females.
Key Issue 2: Where Are Inequalities in Development Distributed?
Unequal and Uneven Development Development is uneven, inequality exists between countries in the core and periphery.
Inequality-Adjusted HDI The Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI) was created by the U.N. to measure the extent of inequality in the world. HDI is modified to account for inequality within a country, producing the IHDI. HDI and IHDI are the same when a country achieves perfect equality. If the IHDI is lower than the HDI, the country has some inequality; the greater the difference between the two measures, the greater the inequality. The highest levels of inequality are in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
Core and Periphery The relationship between developed and developing countries is often described as a north-south split because most of the developed counties are north of the equator, while many developing countries are south. Wallerstein identified the relationship between developed and developing countries as one of “core” and “periphery.” Developed countries constitute an inner core area, while developing countries occupy the outer peripheral locations. Developing countries in the periphery have less access to the world centers of consumption, communications, wealth, and power, which are concentrated in the core areas.
Inequality within Developing Countries Brazil and Turkey are among the world’s largest and most populous countries. At the national scale, the two countries fall somewhere near the middle in terms of HDI. The two countries have similar HDI scores. The gap between HDI and IHDI is greater in Brazil than in Turkey, revealing more inequality in Brazil. Inequality is also evident in the differences in GNI per capita among states or provinces within the countries, and in the contrasts among neighborhoods within largest cities.
Regional Inequality within Developed Countries Regional differences can be seen within developed countries by examining variations in GNI per capita. These differences are less extreme than in developing countries. For instance, in the United States, the GNI per capita is 122 percent of the national average in the wealthiest region (New England), and 90 percent of the national average in the poorest region (Southeast). The gap between regions has decreased since 1950 when the Southeast had only 60 percent of the national average.
Widening Inequality Within Developed Countries Even though regional inequality has been reduced, since 1980, overall inequality between the rich and poor has grown in developed countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom.
Gender Inequality A country’s overall level of development can mask inequalities in the status of men and women. The U.N. uses two indices to measure gender inequality: the Gender Inequality Index (GII) and the Gender Development Index (GDI). Women have achieved near-equality with men in some countries, but in other countries the level of development for women lags far behind the level for men. It is the belief of the U.N. that inequality between men and women is a major factor that prevents a country from achieving a higher level of development.
Gender Inequality Index The U.N. created the Gender Inequality Index (GII) to measure the extent of each country’s gender inequality. The GII combines multiple measures: reproductive health, empowerment, and the labor market. A score of 0 would indicate that men and women fare equally, and a score of 1.0 would indicate that women fare as poorly as possible in all measures. The higher the GII, the greater the inequality between men and women. In general, countries with high HDIs have low GIIs.
Gender Development Index The Gender Development Index (GDI) measures the gender gap in the level of achievement for the three dimensions of the Human Development Index: income, education, and life expectancy. If females and males had the same HDI scores, the GDI would be 1.000. The lowest scores are in South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, Southwest Asia & North Africa. The United States is ranked 36th in GII, while it also ranks 12th in HDI. The United States has a relatively high birth rate among teenage women, a higher mortality rate among women during childbirth, and a low percentage of women in the national legislature relative to other countries with high HDI account for the lower GII ranking.
GII Over Time According to the U.N. gender inequality has declined since the 1990s in all but 4 of 138 countries for which time-series data are available. The greatest improvement has been in Southwest Asia & North Africa. The improvement in gender inequality has been relatively modest in the United States.
Gender Empowerment & Employment The GII combines three sets of measures to come up with a composite score for gender inequality: empowerment, employment, and reproductive health.
Empowerment: National Legislature In the context of gender inequality, empowerment refers to the ability of women to achieve economic and political power. The empowerment dimension of GII is measured by two indicators: the percentage of seats held by women in the national legislature and the percentage of women who have completed some secondary education (high school). No specific gender-related skills are required to be elected as a representative and to serve effectively. Despite this, fewer women than men hold positions of political power in both developing and developed countries. Bolivia. Cuba, and Rwanda have a national parliament with a majority of women. The highest percentages are in Europe, with women constituting roughly one-quarter of the members of national parliaments. The lowest rates are in Southwest Asia & North Africa. In 2019, the number of women elected to the U.S. House of Representatives increased from 19 percent to 24 percent.
Employment The female labor force participation rate is the percentage of women holding full-time jobs outside the home. Globally, 49 percent of women work outside the home, compared to 75 percent of men. Generally, women in developed countries are more likely than women in developing countries to hold full-time jobs outside the home. South Asia, Southwest Asia & North Africa have substantial gaps between male and female labor participation, whereas East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa have smaller gaps.
Empowerment: Secondary School Worldwide, 62 percent of women have completed some secondary school, compared to 71 percent of men. In North America, girls are more likely than boys to complete some high school, and (slightly) more boys than girls are expected to complete some high school in Europe. Boys are much more likely than girls to be high school graduates in developing countries, where for every 10 boys who attend high school, only 6 girls attend. In South Asia, this gap is particularly high.
Reproductive Health Poor reproductive health is a major contributor to gender inequality around the world. The reproductive health factor of the GII is based on two indicators: adolescent fertility rate and the maternity mortality rate.
The adolescent fertility rate is the number of births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 19. The rate in developed countries is 16 births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 19, while the rate is 48 in developing countries. The lowest teenage pregnancy rate is in Europe where it is below 10 per 1,000. In subSaharan Africa the teenage pregnancy rate is 110 per 1,000. The adolescent fertility rate in the United States is 21, twice what it is in Europe.
The maternal mortality rate is the number of women who die giving birth per 100,000 births. The ratio is 16 deaths of mothers per 100,000 live births in developed countries and 171 in developing countries. Worldwide the maternal mortality rate has declined over the past three decades. The United States is among the 13 countries where the rate has increased since 1990.
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Adolescent fertility rate The number of births per 1 ,OOO women ages 1 5 to 19.
Female labor force participation rate The percentage of women holding full-time jobs outside the home.
Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) A statistic created by the United Nations to measure the inequalities between men and women in countries
Gender Inequality Index (GII) A statistic created by the United Nations to measure how much development is lost because of inequalities between men and women
Gender-related Development Index (GDI) A statistic that is an offshoot of the HDI that measures gender gaps in life expectancy, education, and incomes
Geothermal energy Energy from steam or hot water produced from hot or molten underground rocks.
Growth Pole An innovative, high-tech industry that stimulates economic growth in linked businesses
Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI) A modification of the HDI to account for inequality.
World-systems theory Theory developed by Immanuel Wallerstein that in an increasingly unified world economy developed countries form an inner core area whereas developing countries are found on the periphery and semi-periphery.