ST/ESA/STAT/SER.K/19 Department of Economic and Social Affairs The World's Women 2010 Trends and Statistics asdf United Nations New York, 2010 Department of Economic and Social Affairs The Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat is a vital interface between global policies in the economic, social and environmental spheres and national action. The Department works in three main interlinked areas: (i) it compiles, generates and analyses a wide range of economic, social and environmental data and information on which States Members of the United Nations draw to review common problems and take stock of policy options; (ii) it facilitates the negotiations of Member States in many intergovernmental bodies on joint courses of action to address ongoing or emerging global challenges; and (iii) it advises interested Governments on the ways and means of translating policy frameworks developed in United Nations conferences and summits into programmes at the country level and, through technical assistance, helps build national capacities. Note The designations employed and the presentation of material in the present report do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The term “country” as used in the text of this report also refers, as appropriate, to territories or areas. The designations “developed” and “developing” countries or areas and “more developed” and “less developed” regions are intended for statistical convenience and do not necessarily express a judgement about the stage reached by a particular country or area in the development process. Symbols of the United Nations documents are composed of capital letters combined with figures. ST/ESA/STAT/SER.K/19 United Nations publication Sales No. E.10.XVII.11 ISBN 978-92-1-161539-5 Copyright © United Nations, 2010 All rights reserved iii Message from the Secretary-General The United Nations occupies a unique position as a global storehouse of statistical informa- tion on social and economic phenomena. Numerical profiles of women and men and their status in societies are systematically collected, compiled, processed and analyzed, providing an authoritative basis for sound policymaking at all levels – national, regional and international. The World’s Women: Trends and Statistics was first published by the United Nations in 1991. A new edition has been issued every five years since 1995, as called for specifically in the Beijing Platform for Action adopted at that year’s landmark Fourth World Conference on Women. With coverage encompassing the full range of issues and concerns, it is the only publication of its kind. The World’s Women 2010 is intended to contribute to the stocktaking being done to mark the fifteenth anniversary of the Beijing Conference. It addresses critical aspects of life: population, families, health, education, work, power and decision-making, violence against women, envi- ronment and poverty. It finds that progress in ensuring the equal status of women and men has been made in many areas, including school enrolment, health and economic participation. At the same time, it makes clear that much more needs to be done, in particular to close the gender gap in public life and to prevent the many forms of violence to which women are subjected. It is my hope that the insights and information contained in the present publication will help Governments, researchers, scholars, non-governmental organizations and concerned citizens around the world in their efforts to ensure that every single woman achieves her full potential. Ban Ki-Moon v Preface The Beijing Platform for Action – the pre-eminent international guideline for improving the status of women – lists, among others, specific activities related to increased availability of sex- disaggregated data. It was expected that these activities would start showing results with the passage of time. Indeed, in some areas of statistics, we are witnessing an increased stock of avail- able statistics, such as on work and education. However, the availability of gender statistics is still sporadic and weak in many countries and areas of the world, thus limiting the comprehensive statistical analysis of social phenomena and the status of women and men. The conceptual approach ofThe World’s Women 2010: Trends and Statistics is in line with those published since 1991 – to present and analyse statistics on the status of women. It highlights the differences between the status of women and men in various areas of contemporary life; statistics on men figure as prominently as statistics on women. Eight key areas are covered: population and families, health, education, work, power and decision- making, violence against women, environment and poverty. In each of these areas, statistics were identified, compiled, processed and analyzed, bringing to light findings on the differences between the status of girls and boys, women and men. All efforts were made to make these find- ings easy to interpret, with the extensive use of graphical presentation and non-technical language. The World’s Women 2010 is accompanied by a comprehensive website hosted by the Statistics Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The website displays the full range of statistics used for preparing the present publication, as well as links to numerous sources of gender statistics and references to international, regional and national compilations of relevant data. It is my hope that the present publication will be used to advance an enabling social and eco- nomic environment that will ensure equal treatment of all women and men and significantly improve the status of women in the world. It should also serve as a model for similar statistical profiles for countries, areas, regions and provinces, thus supporting the development of policies to implement a basic United Nations principle: gender equality. Sha Zukang Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Prepared by the United Nations Statistics Division Paul Cheung, Director Editors Srdjan Mrkić, Editor-in-Chief Tina Johnson Michael Rose Drafting team – United Nations Statistics Division Ionica Berevoescu María Isabel Cobos Hernández Erlinda Go Linda Hooper Srdjan Mrkić Keiko Osaki Tomita Seiffe Tadesse Contributors Bosiljka Djikanovic Athena Tapales Joann Vanek Macro International International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour, International Labour Office UNESCO Institute for Statistics Reviewers Denise Brown, Principal Statistician, Statistics New Zealand Jean-Michel Durr, Statistics Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations Keiko Osaki Tomita, Statistics Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations UNESCO Institute for Statistics Department of Statistics, International Labor Office United Nations Environmental Programme World Health Organization Research and technical assistance Xinli An, Haoyi Chen, Lisa Morrison-Puckett, Vysaul Nyirongo, Tillie Peacock, Awet Segid, Patricia Tito Design and typesetting Cover Graphic Design Unit, Outreach Division, Department of Public Information Interior Content Design Unit, Copy Preparation and Proofreading Section, Department for General Assembly and Conference Management vii Executive summary In the Beijing Declaration adopted in 1995 by the Fourth World Conference on Women, partici- pating Governments expressed their commitment “to advance the goals of equality, development and peace for all women everywhere in the interest of humanity”. To assess whether these goals are being achieved, The World’s Women is produced by the United Nations every five years, as called for in the Beijing Platform for Action. The World’s Women 2010: Trends and Statistics presents statistics and analysis on the status of women and men in the world, highlighting the current situation and changes over time. Analy- ses are based mainly on statistics from international and national statistical agencies. The report covers several broad policy areas – population and families, health, education, work, power and decision-making, violence against women, environment and poverty. The main findings are summarized below. General population patterns, families In today’s world, there are 57 million more men than women. This surplus of men is concen- trated in the youngest age groups and steadily diminishes until it disappears at about age 50, thereafter becoming a surplus of women owing to their longer life expectancy. A surplus of men characterizes the world’s most populous countries – China and India – hence the large surplus of men worldwide. In most other countries, there are more women than men. The surplus of women in older age groups is significant and is increasing, with obvious implications for health care and other social needs. People are marrying at older ages than in the past – especially women. In Europe, the average age at which women first marry is 30 or older in many countries. In some less developed countries, however, such as Mali, Niger and several other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, the average age at which women first marry is still below 20. As family-building often starts with