Gender-related Development Index
Encyclopedia
The Gender-related Development Index (GDI) and the Gender Empowerment Measure
(GEM) were introduced in 1995 in the Human Development Report
written by the United Nations Development Program. The aim of these measurements was to add a gender-sensitive dimension to the HDI
. The first measurement that they created as a result was the GDI. The GDI is defined as a “distribution-sensitive measure that accounts for the human development impact of existing gender gaps in the three components of the HDI” (Klasen 243). The HDI and the GDI (as well as the GEM) were created to rival the more traditional income-based measures of GDP and GNP
.
Gender Empowerment Measure
The United Nation's Development Programme's attempt to measure the extent of gender equality across the globe's countries, based on estimates of women's relative economic income, high-paying positions, and access to professional and parliamentary positions....
(GEM) were introduced in 1995 in the Human Development Report
Human Development Report
The Human Development Report is an annual milestone publication by the Human Development Report Office of the United Nations Development Programme .-History:...
written by the United Nations Development Program. The aim of these measurements was to add a gender-sensitive dimension to the HDI
Human Development Index
The Human Development Index is a composite statistic used to rank countries by level of "human development" and separate "very high human development", "high human development", "medium human development", and "low human development" countries...
. The first measurement that they created as a result was the GDI. The GDI is defined as a “distribution-sensitive measure that accounts for the human development impact of existing gender gaps in the three components of the HDI” (Klasen 243). The HDI and the GDI (as well as the GEM) were created to rival the more traditional income-based measures of GDP and GNP
GNP
Gross National Product is the market value of all products and services produced in one year by labor and property supplied by the residents of a country...
.
Definition and calculation of the GDI
The GDI is often considered a “gender-sensitive extension of the HDI” (Klasen 245). It addresses gender-gaps in life expectancy, education, and incomes. It uses an “inequality aversion” penalty, which creates a development penalty for gender gaps in any of the three categories of the HDI. In terms of life expectancy, the GDI assumes that women will live an average of five years longer than men. Additionally, in terms of income, the GDI considers income-gaps in terms of actual earned income. The GDI cannot be used independently from the HDI and so, it cannot be used on it’s own as an indicator of gender-gaps. Only the gap between the HDI and the GDI can actually be accurately considered, the GDI on it’s own is not an independent measure of gender-gaps.General debates
In the years since it’s creation in 1995, much debate has arisen surrounding the reliability, and usefulness of the GDI in making adequate comparisons and in promoting gender-sensitive development. The GDI is particularly criticized for being often misinterpreted as it is commonly mistaken for an independent measure of gender-gaps when it is not, in fact, intended to be interpreted in that way. Additionally, the data that is needed in order to calculate the GDI is not always readily available in many countries, making the measure very hard to calculate uniformly and internationally. There is also worry that the combination of so many different developmental influences in one measurement could result in muddled results and that perhaps the GDI (and the GEM) actually hide more than they reveal.Debates surrounding the life expectancy adjustment
More specifically, there has been a lot of debate over the life-expectancy component of the GDI. As was mentioned previously, the GDI life expectancy section is adjusted to assume that women will live, normally, five years longer than men. This provisions has been debated, and it has been argued that if the GDI was really looking to promote true equality, it would strive to attain the same life-expectancy for women and men, despite what might be considered a biological advantage or not. However, this may seem paradoxical in terms of policy implications, because, theoretically, this could only be achieved through providing preferential treatment to males, effectively discriminating against females. Furthermore, it has been argued that the GDI doesn’t account for sex-selective abortion, meaning that the penalty levied against a country for gender inequality is less because it affects less of the population (see Sen, Missing Women).Debate surrounding income gaps
Another area of debate surrounding the GDI is in the area of income gaps. The GDI considers income-gaps in terms of actual earned income. This has been said to be problematic because often, men may make more money than women, but their income is shared. Additionally, the GDI has been criticized because it does not consider the value of care work as well as other work performed in the informal sector. Another criticism of the GDI is that it only takes gender into account as a factor for inequality, it does not, however, consider inequality among class, region or race, which could be very significant. Another criticism with the income-gap portion of the GDI is that it is heavily dependent on GDP and GNP For most countries, the earned-income gap accounts for more than 90% of the gender penalty.Suggested alternatives to the GDI
As was suggested by Halis Akder in 1994, one alternative to the GDI would be the calculation of a separate male and female Human Development Index. Another suggested alternative is the Gender Gap Measure which could be interpreted directly as a measure of gender inequality, instead of having to be compared directly to the HDI as the GDI is. It would average the female-male gaps in human development and use a gender-gap in labor force participation instead of earned income. In the 2010 Human Development Report, another alternative to the GDI, namely, the Gender Inequality Index (GII) was proposed in order to address some of the shortcomings of the GDI. This new experimental measure contains three dimensions: Reproductive Health, Empowerment, and Labor Market Participation.See also
- Human Development IndexHuman Development IndexThe Human Development Index is a composite statistic used to rank countries by level of "human development" and separate "very high human development", "high human development", "medium human development", and "low human development" countries...
- Human Poverty IndexHuman Poverty IndexThe Human Poverty Index is an indication of the standard of living in a country, developed by the United Nations . For highly developed countries, the UN considers that it can better reflect the extent of deprivation compared to the Human Development Index....
- Gender Empowerment MeasureGender Empowerment MeasureThe United Nation's Development Programme's attempt to measure the extent of gender equality across the globe's countries, based on estimates of women's relative economic income, high-paying positions, and access to professional and parliamentary positions....
- Gender Parity IndexGender Parity IndexThe Gender Parity Index is a socioeconomic index usually designed to measure the relative access to education of males and females. In its simplest form, it is calculated as the quotient of the number of females by the number of males enrolled in a given stage of education...
- National Human Development ReportNational Human Development ReportThe National Human Development Reports take the Global Human Development Report approach to the national level and are prepared and owned by national teams...
- American Human Development Report