The US Falls Behind Nicaragua, Rwanda, And The Philippines On Women's Equality | ThinkProgress
The United States moved up a few slots in the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report this year compared to last. But it still falls at number 20, behind less developed countries including Nicaragua, Rwanda, the Philippines, Burundi, and South Africa, as well as more developed peers like the Nordic countries, Germany, Ireland, Belgium, France, and Canada, among others.
The U.S. ranks at the top when it comes to educational measures such as equal school enrollment from primary education to college for girls and boys and the literacy rate. But it falls behind in many economic measures. It ranks at number 47 for equal labor force participation — 67 percent of American women are in the workforce, compared to 78 percent of men — and number 65 on equal pay for similar work. The average American woman who works full time, year round makes 78 percent of what the same man makes. American women also spend more than 4 hours a day, on average, on unpaid work, while men spend a little more than 2.5 hours.
One area the country falls down in particular is in paid family leave. Given that the U.S. doesn’t guarantee paid maternity leave, unlike nearly every country around the world, or paternity leave, unlike 70 other countries, it doesn’t get any points for measuring the length of maternity or paternity leave or the size of benefits. The lack of paid leave, along with low spending on childcare and a lack of support for flexible work arrangements, is part of why the U.S. has been falling behind on women entering the workforce over the last two decades.
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/10/29/3585793/women-equality-ranking/