Gender equality is a distant dream for another 170 years

We can't overlook the fact that majority of household responsibilities lie on women. Photo: Shutterstock/ IndiaPicture

If you have been waiting for a more gender-equal world, we have just one thing to say to you: don't hold your breath.

According to a study conducted by the World Economic Forum, people will have to wait for another 170 years to see women becoming equal to men.

Wondering how on earth did the researchers come up with that number? Well, the conclusion was derived after considering the progress of women across four indexes.

While there wasn't much discrepancy in the education and health indexes, the disparity in political and economic participation was huge.

"An average gap of 31.7% remains to be closed worldwide across the four Index dimensions in order to achieve universal gender parity," stated the report.

And this is not at all surprising!

After all, as per a 2012 World Bank report, women perform 66% of the world's work, produce 50% of the food, but earn 10% of the income, and own one per cent of the property.

We can't overlook the fact that majority of household responsibilities lie on women. And let's admit it--juggling personal and professional lives is not easy. This hampers their productivity at work, which in turn has a negative impact on their earnings. Not to mention the nagging gender pay gap between the two sexes.

"Demographics as well as income and societal expectations therefore play a strong role in the division of labour between women and men when it comes to paid and unpaid work," the study pointed out.

Though no country has been able to eradicate sexism and gender disparity completely, some Nordic nations such as Iceland, Finland, Norway, and Sweden have still been able to squeeze the gap.

However, universal gender-equality is still a far cry. Probably more than a century away.

Also read: These are the least sexist countries in the world. And they're damn beautiful