A Gender Equality Index for the Italian Regions

Abstract

A gender gap indicator is constructed for the Italian regions, with the aim of highlighting the geographical differences underlying Italy’s backwardness at European and international level. The indicator, which adapts the Gender Equality Index developed by Plantenga et al. (2009) for 25 European countries, considers four dimensions: work (counting both employment and unemployment), income, political and economic representation and use of time. The indicator can be interpreted as a gauge of the progress made towards gender equality. A limited number of regions, led by Piedmont and Emilia Romagna, are approximately half-way down the path, while a larger group is positioned around the Italian average, i.e. one-third down the path. By contrast, all the southern regions (except Sardinia) lag far behind. Overall, the value of the indicator in 2010 does not differ significantly compared with 2005.

Keywords: gender gap, gender index, employment

JEL Classification: J16, D63, I31