Abstract
Several international organizations have recently prioritized promoting equal rights for men and women. Reflecting these priorities, many view gender equality as a means to promote societal well-being; yet still others suggest that it has deleterious effects on the enacting state. To test these pro-equality arguments, we examine the effect of four major indicators of gender (in)equality on life satisfaction: the Gender Empowerment Measure, Gender Development Index, Gender Inequality Index, and the Gender Gap Index (or Global Gender Gap). Utilizing survey data from the World Values Survey and Eurobarometer, we find strong and consistent evidence that promoting gender equality leads to greater subjective well-being. Furthermore, we demonstrate that policies promoting gender equality tend to improve the quality of life for everyone, not just direct beneficiaries of the policies (women). Indeed, men also see strong and significant gains in life satisfaction when the sexes are more equal. As a result, we suggest that scholars of subjective well-being expand research into determinants of quality of life to include equality and other social factors. We also suggest that the findings presented here have tangible implications for governments and policy workers who are tasked with promoting equality and well-being.
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Notes
Skeptics of equality do of course suggest many other more specific—and less ideological or agenda-driven—concerns that are beyond the scope of this paper. One example is the burgeoning literature on “work-life balance,” which finds that the traditional disadvantage that women face in division of domestic labor may actually be worse in societies characterized by greater gender equality (e.g. McGinnity and Whelan 2009). For an overview of additional arguments, see Longwe (1995).
Figures outlining the components of each indicator are available in the online supplementary material.
The countries included are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and the US. The number of countries in each model varies slightly due to missing data in the gender measures. The temporal range included is also dictated by the availability of the gender indicators (GII from 1995, GDI from 2000, GEM from 2001, GGG from 2006).
Using the national mean of the standard question “All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?” Higher values (on the 1-10 response scale) represent greater satisfaction.
The GDP variable is scaled by division by 1000 for easier interpretation of its coefficient. Unless otherwise noted, data for control variables are from the Penn World Table and Quality of Government Institute database.
The countries included are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the UK.
Adding economic development to the model reduces the efficiency of the estimates, as one would expect, but the gender variable remains significant and correctly signed.
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Audette, A.P., Lam, S., O’Connor, H. et al. (E)Quality of Life: A Cross-National Analysis of the Effect of Gender Equality on Life Satisfaction. J Happiness Stud 20, 2173–2188 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-018-0042-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-018-0042-8