The Global Gender Gap Report 2014
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Through the Global Gender Gap Report 2014, the World Economic Forum quantifies the magnitude of gender-based disparities and tracks their progress over time. While no single measure can capture the complete situation, the Global Gender Gap Index presented in this Report seeks to measure one important aspect of gender equality: the relative gaps between women and men across four key areas: health, education, economy and politics.
Latest blog posts >>
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Why every nation must now be part of the effort to make space safer
Tuesday 23rd of April 2019
This article is part of the World Economic Forum’s Geostrategy platform
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Better sanitation for India is in the pipeline
Tuesday 23rd of April 2019
Recently, I had the privilege of spending a day in Patna, Bihar. Beautiful as it is, Bihar is one of India’s poorest states, with a record 70% of its population under the poverty line. Moreover, in 2018, the Research Institute for Compassionate Economics (RICE) reported that 44%of households practised open defecation in Bihar as well as in the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
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The World Economic Forum Book Club – 12 months, 12 great books
Tuesday 23rd of April 2019
Happy #WorldBookDay. As we celebrate the world’s great literary masterworks, here’s a look back over the first 12 months of our World Economic Forum Book Club – and 12 inspiring authors whose wit and insight have made our lives richer.
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The middle-class dream is moving beyond millennial reach
Tuesday 23rd of April 2019
Do you feel like your cost of living is rising?
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These countries have the most expensive childcare
Tuesday 23rd of April 2019
Childcare costs make up a significant proportion of many working parents’ outgoings. But how much you pay can vary considerably depending on where you live.
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What companies gain by including persons with disabilities
Tuesday 23rd of April 2019
More than one billion people in this world are living with some form of disability. That’s one in seven of us. Eighty percent of these people acquire their disability between the ages of 18 and 64 – the average working age for most – and they are 50% more likely to be unemployed.
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This tiny new grain could save the planet
Tuesday 23rd of April 2019
There’s a new food we are all likely to hear a lot more about in the future. Developed from wheatgrass, ‘Kernza’ is being hailed as a weapon against climate change that could also protect the environment and revolutionize farming. Big claims for a grain that is but one-fifth the size of wheat.
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Professor Robot – why AI could soon be teaching in university classrooms
Tuesday 23rd of April 2019
The number of robots around the world is increasing rapidly. And it’s said that automation will be threatening more than 800m jobs worldwide by 2030. In the UK, it’s claimed robots will replace 3.6m workers by this date, which means one in five British jobs would be performed by an intelligent machine.
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The three ‘nightmare traits’ at the heart of bad leadership
Tuesday 23rd of April 2019
Disagreeable, dishonest and careless bosses can mean bad outcomes for organizations and work groups. However, new research highlights that the employees they work with also play a major role in this. Employee anxiety, self-esteem and how leadership behavior is perceived can all affect the leader’s influence on outcomes — and both followers and leaders can buffer against the effects of certain undesirable traits. Published in Frontiers in Psychology as a special article collection on the ‘dark side’ of leadership, the research can help organizations identify potentially problematic leaders or followers to reduce their negative effects.
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Flying cars could cut emissions, replace planes, and free up roads – but not soon enough
Tuesday 23rd of April 2019
When Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was released 50 years ago, flying cars were a flight of fancy. Now, these futuristic vehicles are entering the outer fringes of reality. According to a new study published in Nature, for some journeys flying cars could eventually be greener than even electric road cars, cutting emissions while also reducing traffic on increasingly busy roads.
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New York City is about to pass its own Green New Deal
Tuesday 23rd of April 2019
The New York City Council passed the world’s “largest single carbon reduction effort that any city, anywhere, has ever put forward” on Thursday afternoon, marking a major milestone in the fight against the climate crisis.
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India will soon overtake China to become the most populous country in the world
Tuesday 23rd of April 2019
China has been the world’s most populous country for a long time: back in 1750, it had a population of 225 million, around 28% of the world population.1 By 2016, China had a population larger than 1.4 billion.
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5 charts on the vulnerabilities in the global economy – and why we should worry about them
Tuesday 23rd of April 2019
In the United States, the ratio of corporate debt to GDP is at record-high levels. In several European countries, banks are overloaded with government bonds. In China, bank profitability is declining, and capital levels remain low at small and medium-sized lenders.
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The number one benefit workers want? Less work, more leisure
Tuesday 23rd of April 2019
The quest to keep employees happy has spurred some employers to take a fast-fashion approach to perks, making cupcakes, or kombucha, or onsite CrossFit classes a must-have for some time—until the next big extraordinary benefit arrives.
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AI is going to change journalism – here’s how
Tuesday 23rd of April 2019
In the past year, you have most likely read a story that was written by a bot. Whether it’s a sports article, an earnings report or a story about who won the last congressional race in your district, you may not have known it but an emotionless artificial intelligence perhaps moved you to cheers, jeers or tears. By 2025, a bot could be writing 90% of all news, according to Narrative Science, whose software Quill turns data into stories.
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Why vaccines are not just for children
Tuesday 23rd of April 2019
#VaccinesWork. This is the theme chosen by the World Health Organization (WHO) for the 2019 World Immunization Week (24-30 April).
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We need to protect 30% of the planet by 2030. This is how we can do it
Monday 22nd of April 2019
At a time when the world is grappling with meeting the Paris Climate Agreement and trying to prevent the sixth mass extinction on Earth, an international team of scientists has published a way forward – a Global Deal for Nature.
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Conflict in Libya threatens to turn into a devastating regional proxy war. Here’s how it can be stopped
Friday 19th of April 2019
This article is part of the World Economic Forum’s Geostrategy platform
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Why we need to rethink the purpose of economic sanctions
Thursday 18th of April 2019
This article is part of the World Economic Forum’s Geostrategy platform
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5 things you need to know about creativity
Thursday 18th of April 2019
When was the last time you had a really good idea? Maybe they sneak up on you when you’re drifting off to sleep. Or perhaps you just don’t have time to let the creative juices flow.
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Chart of the day: Why marine protected sites matter more than ever
Thursday 18th of April 2019
Our oceans face multiple threats. Climate change, pollution, acidification, overfishing and deep-sea mining all pose an increasing risk to the 80% of our planet’s biodiversity that lives in our seas.
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It’s not just the protests. Here’s how young people are helping the planet
Thursday 18th of April 2019
According to the latest World Economic Forum Global Shapers Annual Survey, which covers more than 30,000 individuals under the age of 30 from 186 countries, climate change and the destruction of nature remain the biggest global concerns for young people around the world.
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How the world can gear up for the fight against cancer
Thursday 18th of April 2019
Here is what we know today: cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide, claiming nearly 10 million lives in 2018 alone. On top of that, population growth and ageing will contribute significantly to the rise of cancer incidence globally in the years ahead. Population ageing will lead to an estimated 63% rise in cancer cases between 2018 and 2040.
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Researchers have found a link between air pollution and crime
Thursday 18th of April 2019
Air pollution is a major driver of crime in London says new research by LSE.
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Microplastics have even been blown into a remote corner of the Pyrenees
Thursday 18th of April 2019
Microplastics have been discovered in a remote area of the French Pyrenees mountains. The particles travelled through the atmosphere and were blown into the once pristine region by the wind, according to a new study published in Nature Geoscience.
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Japan’s population is shrinking by a quarter of a million people every year
Thursday 18th of April 2019
How do you stop your country’s population shrinking?
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Linguists looked for the world’s weirdest languages – and English is one of them
Thursday 18th of April 2019
Is English “weird”? Many of us might feel this is true when we’re trying to explain the complex spelling rules of the language, or the meanings of idioms such as “it’s raining cats and dogs” to someone who is learning English. Teaching or learning any language is, however, never an easy task.
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Portugal is betting on artificial intelligence to boost exports
Thursday 18th of April 2019
At a time when a slowing global economy is seen as a threat to Portugal’s growth, the country is betting on a new artificial intelligence platform to help companies boost their exports.
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People were asked which leadership traits are most important. What they said matters for gender equality
Thursday 18th of April 2019
The finding that both men and women prefer leadership traits considered as more masculine could help explain gender inequality in the workplace.
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Researchers have 3D-printed a heart using human tissue
Thursday 18th of April 2019
Small heart
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Economics needs to stop treating people as atomic particles
Thursday 18th of April 2019
Economic thinking governs much of our world. But the discipline’s teaching is stuck in the past. Centred around antiquated 19th-century models built on Newtonian physics, economics treats humans as atomic particles, rather than as social beings.
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Doctors say they’ve cured 10 infants of ‘bubble boy’ disease
Thursday 18th of April 2019
Relying on the trickery used by the AIDS virus to infect people, doctors at two medical centers say they have cured 10 infants of so-called bubble boy disease, a genetic defect that leaves children, typically boys, without an immune system.
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UK to offer free sanitary products to primary school pupils
Thursday 18th of April 2019
Pupils will be able to get free sanitary products at all primary schools in England from 2020, the government announced on Tuesday, after warnings girls were being forced to skip classes due to being unable to afford them.
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In the age of automation, we need to rethink well-being after work
Thursday 18th of April 2019
In order to manage the latest wave of automation, we must have ends that are more compelling than merely wanting more products and services. Without an intelligent definition of wellbeing, we will simply create more and more monsters that feed on our humanity.
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Scientists have revived basic cellular activity pigs’ brains hours after death
Thursday 18th of April 2019
Yale University scientists have succeeded in restoring basic cellular activity in pigs’ brains hours after their deaths in a finding that may one day lead to advances in treating human stroke and brain injuries, researchers reported on Wednesday.
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This is how an African free trade area could impact people’s health
Thursday 18th of April 2019
The new African Continental Free Trade Area could yield enormous economic benefits once it takes effect. But African governments must act immediately to address the AfCFTA’s potential negative implications for Africans’ health.
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EU lawmakers okay minimum rights for gig economy workers
Thursday 18th of April 2019
Strasbourg (Reuters) – The European Parliament on Tuesday approved a law setting minimum rights for workers in the “gig economy”, a move that may benefit Uber drivers, Deliveroo and Just Eat food couriers and others.
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This new data compression technique could create the technology of tomorrow
Thursday 18th of April 2019
A novel technique developed by MIT researchers rethinks hardware data compression to free up more memory used by computers and mobile devices, allowing them to run faster and perform more tasks simultaneously.
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A US judge sentenced teenage vandals to read books. This is what happened next
Thursday 18th of April 2019
Juvenile crime presents a challenge for judicial systems the world over. Are severe punishments for delinquent behaviour the answer, or should lawmakers and judges focus on more progressive policies to help young people turn their lives around?
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5 historic building that were rebuilt to be just as spectacular
Wednesday 17th of April 2019
The destruction of Notre Dame cathedral is lamentable. A wonderful icon has been largely destroyed by fire. However, we should not despair.
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California declared totally drought free for first time in seven years
Wednesday 17th of April 2019
California has been declared totally drought free for the first time in more than seven years, following unusually abundant winter rains and snowfall statewide.
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To survive climate change we have to transform both economics and design
Wednesday 17th of April 2019
What could be more important than sustaining habitable living conditions on Earth? Climate change, biodiversity loss and other environmental problems demand changes on an order of magnitude well beyond the trajectory of business-as-usual. And yet, despite accumulative social and technological innovation, environmental problems are accelerating far more quickly than sustainable solutions.
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Oil-eating microbes found in the deepest part of the ocean could help clean up man-made oil spills
Wednesday 17th of April 2019
Scientists know more about the farthest reaches of deep space than they do about the deepest parts of our planet’s oceans.
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Chicago just became the largest US city to commit to 100% clean energy
Wednesday 17th of April 2019
The Windy City is getting even windier. (And yes, we’re talking about wind power.) Last year, Illinois announced the Illinois Clean Energy Jobs Act, putting the state on a path toward 100 percent clean energy by 2050. But this week, Chicago, Illinois took things a step further by passing legislation committing to running the city on 100 percent renewable energy by the year 2040, the Sierra Club reported.
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What the Corn Laws tell us about Brexit Britain
Wednesday 17th of April 2019
The latest debate over Brexit has caused many to recall another episode in history when the UK’s Conservative party was split over a contentious issue. Back then, in 1846, the Prime Minister, Robert Peel, changed his mind and repealed the Corn Laws that divided his party. Will history repeat itself?
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Why we need a new and global approach to taxing big companies
Wednesday 17th of April 2019
For too long, multinational corporations – and digital firms in particular – have used existing rules to avoid paying taxes in countries where they do much of their business. But recent encouraging signs suggest that the idea of a global corporate tax on these companies’ profits is gaining traction.
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These are the most popular social networks in the US
Wednesday 17th of April 2019
The share of U.S. adults who say they use certain online platforms or apps is statistically unchanged from where it stood in early 2018 despite a long stretch of controversies over privacy, fake news and censorship on social media, according to a new Pew Research Center survey conducted Jan. 8 to Feb. 7, 2019.
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Leonardo da Vinci saw in animals the ‘image of the world’
Wednesday 17th of April 2019
About six months ago I stopped eating meat. I was teaching a graduate course at UCLA that investigated how Italian Renaissance writers conveyed their concepts about the human through writing about the nonhuman – plants, animals, objects, angels, demons, gods and God. As weeks passed, I found myself becoming more and more attuned to the nonhuman entities all around me, more aware of their vibrant lives. Cutting flowers for a short-lived bouquet seemed wrong; chewing on animal flesh became flat out impossible.
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The world’s largest plane has made its first flight
Wednesday 17th of April 2019
The world’s largest aircraft took off over the Mojave Desert in California on Saturday, the first flight for the carbon-composite plane built by Stratolaunch Systems Corp, started by late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, as the company enters the lucrative private space market.
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How much data is generated each day?
Wednesday 17th of April 2019
You’ve probably heard of kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes, or even terabytes.
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What CEOs can learn from Roman emperors
Wednesday 17th of April 2019
The Roman Empire has fascinated history buffs for centuries with its stories of political ambition, military victories and corruption. But the Romans were also known for their efficiency, feats of engineering and deft management of far-flung communities. Today’s business leaders can learn valuable lessons by looking at how they built and ran a vast empire. Cornell University professor Barry Strauss uncovers those lessons in his book, Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine, and joined the [email protected] show on Sirius XM to discuss them.
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Chile gets tough on sexual harassment in the streets
Wednesday 17th of April 2019
Chile will soon start punishing rampant street sexual harassment against women and girls with fines and prison terms but getting victims to speak up will be a significant challenge, experts said on Monday.
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Smaller, faster, better: Nanoscale batteries may power future technology
Wednesday 17th of April 2019
Inside modern cell phones are billions of nanoscale switches that flip on and off, allowing the phone to function. These switches, called transistors, are controlled by an electrical signal that is delivered via a single battery. This configuration of one battery to power multiple components works well for today’s technologies, but there is room for improvement. Each time a signal is piped from the battery to a component, some power is lost on the journey. Coupling each component with its own battery would be a much better setup, minimizing energy loss and maximizing battery life. However, in the current tech world, batteries are not small enough to permit this arrangement — at least not yet.
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US teen girls at risk in dating violence, study says
Wednesday 17th of April 2019
One in four U.S. teenage girls killed in a homicide is slain by her dating partner, research showed on Monday, exposing details about the “taboo” issue of dating violence among young people.
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Some of the world’s happiest people have a surprisingly simple way to tackle loneliness
Wednesday 17th of April 2019
Toad, a 20-year-old Danish woman living in Copenhagen, has been lonely her whole life. She is autistic, and as a child, did not have any friends. When she moved from the country to the city, not much changed. “They says it’s a phase, but a phase becomes a life,” she says, surrounded by six other young adults in a cozy apartment in Copenhagen—all of whom are working on becoming less lonely.
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Three ways pollution can be turned into something useful
Wednesday 17th of April 2019
Solving environmental problems usually just means cleaning up the mess people have made. But scientists are increasingly interested in creating something valuable from pollution. “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”, as they say, and researchers have now demonstrated several ways that useful products can be obtained from waste in industry and agriculture while also remediating contaminated soil, water and air.
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These amazing microbes could eat electricity and produce bioplastics
Wednesday 17th of April 2019
Scientists have figured out a way to feed electricity to microbes to grow truly green, biodegradable bioplastics, according to a new study.
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How the law can boost recession recovery
Wednesday 17th of April 2019
In the Great Recession, the two key tools for rescuing the economy — fiscal and monetary policy — had big limitations, according to Yair Listokin, author of a new book: Law and Macroeconomics: Legal Remedies to Recessions. The big increases in government spending needed to get the economy cooking again were mostly a non-starter — too many opposed raising the debt, even if, as many economists argued, that could solve most of the immediate problems and be paid back in due course. That put most of the onus on monetary policy. But not much could be done using interest rates once they hit zero or close to it. And that left unconventional monetary policy — quantitative easing and the like. Listokin thinks that probably prevented the Great Recession from getting worse, but “it did not work out that well” and “may have fueled asset price bubbles whose eventual bursting could cause yet more damage.” What’s more, such measures “suffer … from a lack of democratic legitimacy,” he says. Listokin proposes instead a new way of stimulating the economy when it hits the so-called zero-bound level, where standard monetary tools stop working well. His solution: Leverage the law, including rules affecting government departments and even the judiciary.
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16 foods that are good for you – and the planet
Wednesday 17th of April 2019
Agriculture is already one of the biggest contributors to global warming. The greenhouse gases released in the form of methane from cattle and rice farms, nitrous oxide from fertilized fields, and carbon dioxide from deforestation to make space for crops and livestock, add up to more emissions than all our cars, trucks, trains and airplanes combined.
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3 ways Africa can improve the health of women and children
Wednesday 17th of April 2019
The health of women and children is a cornerstone for building healthy and stable societies around the world. Yet after decades of steady growth, development assistance for reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (known as RMNCAH) has stagnated since 2011. Today, there is an estimated $60 billion annual deficit in health investment in Africa alone.