Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM)

Overview

• The Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) is an index designed to measure gender equality.
• Developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to assess gender inequality globally.
• Focuses on women's economic income, participation in high-paying jobs with economic power, and access to professional and parliamentary positions.
• Introduced alongside the Gender-related Development Index (GDI) to cover empowerment topics not addressed by GDI.
• First adopted in 1995.

Purpose and Creation

• Augments the Human Development Index (HDI) by adding a gender perspective.
• Aimed to counter traditional development measures like GDP and GNP.
• Created under the leadership of Mahbub ul Haq, the first director of the Human Development Report Office.
• Principles included simplicity, international comparability, and yearly data availability.

Definition and Calculation

• Measures active participation in economic and political life and decision-making by both genders.
• Focuses more on agency than general well-being.
• Three basic indicators:
  1. Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments.
  2. Percentage of women in economic decision-making positions (administrative, managerial, professional, and technical roles).
  3. Female share of earned income compared to males.

Applications and Research

• Used in academic research on gender politics, such as studies on government spending and representation in government.
• Higher GEM scores correlate with higher spending on domestic programs (education, healthcare), associated with feminine values.
• Studies also look at housework distribution and smoking prevalence among genders.

Criticisms

• Specialized and complex, often misinterpreted.
• Limited data availability in less-developed countries.
• Criticized for measuring only among elite or educated women.
• Does not account for local political participation or cultural/religious contexts.
• Over-reliance on income component.
• Excludes aspects of women's control over their bodies and sexuality.

Suggestions for Improvement

• Include female representation in local government.
• Reflect female participation in political activities like voting.
• Add components on women's health, control over their bodies, and sexuality.
• Consider infant and maternal mortality rates.
• Include female unemployment levels and extreme poverty.

Alternative Measures

• Proposals to replace GEM with indexes like separate HDIs for each gender.
• Alternatives like the Women's Empowerment Matrix and the Gender Inequality Index (GII).
• GII considers reproductive health, empowerment, and labor market participation.
• Some countries, like India, use local level data for more accurate representation in GEM calculations.

Related Topics

• Gender equality and inequality
• Gender Parity Index
• Global Gender Gap Report
• Social Institutions and Gender Index
• Human Development Index
• UN Women

The GEM remains a significant, albeit debated, tool for measuring women’s empowerment and gender equality worldwide.