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Introducing the Strengthening Gender Statistics (SGS) Project

Globally,?women control fewer economic resources than men, including land, financial assets, and employment, leading to differences in their development outcomes. Reliable and complete data on how economic realities for women and men differ and what social factors influence these differences is essential for designing effective policies. But too often, data gaps inhibit progress on crucial development issues.??

The?Strengthening Gender Statistics ?(SGS) project works with National Statistics Offices (NSOs) in 12 partner countries to improve the availability, quality, and use of gender data within the economic domain. Global knowledge products and implementation lessons coming out of the project help ensure that its benefits extend beyond this group of countries. Collecting data on work, employment, and asset ownership is key to measuring inequalities between women and men, monitoring progress toward gender-related indicators from the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) framework and conducting research to design and evaluate inclusive policies and interventions.

How SGS Works

The?Strengthening Gender Statistics?project provides technical assistance to National Statistics Offices in low-income IDA-eligible countries to improve the availability, quality, and use of gender data, specifically in the economic domain. The SGS project draws on expertise from the World Bank¡¯²õ?Gender Group, the?Poverty Global Department, and the?¡¯²õ?Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS)?program, which have a long track-record of investing in the improvement of gender statistics. ?

Gender data gaps refer to the lack of sex-disaggregated statistics, limiting the opportunity to accurately identify and analyze disparities between women and men, girls and boys. Those gaps arise due to various reasons and require a holistic approach to be closed. The SGS project has identified three entry points that address gaps along the data lifecycle.

1. Data production:?Significant investments have been made to address methodological concerns and practical challenges related to economic gender data. New evidence has emerged from projects such as??and the?Women¡¯s Work and Employment Partnership?on the implications of respondent selection, updated guidance on employment indicators, and the urgency of sex-disaggregation. However, advances in measuring women¡¯s economic status are often not translated into survey operations. The SGS project provides targeted advice to survey design and implementation protocols within each country¡¯s specific context.
2. Data analysis:?Even where data are collected, it can be difficult to calculate and analyze ]that data. As a result, gender data may not be well communicated or sufficiently leveraged in policy dialogue. The SGS project offers training to help countries accurately calculate data and generate important statistics using internationally recognized methodology. 
3. Data dissemination:?Efforts to collect high-quality gender data are only helpful if the data is used. Disseminating data is not going the extra mile, but a fundamental step in the data production cycle to ensure uptake and use of data for policy making. The SGS project supports the production of gender abstracts and factbooks and works with partner countries to promote the dissemination of data sets and associated reports.
    

Aligned with the SDG framework, the World Bank¡¯s Gender Strategy, and the IDA20 Data for Policy commitment, the SGS project was launched in October 2020 with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Umbrella Facility for Gender Equality.

The?Strengthening Gender Statistics?project prioritizes the availability and quality of gender indicators related to economic status. Collecting sex-disaggregated data on work and employment, and asset control and ownership is key to measuring inequalities, monitoring progress toward gender-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and informing the design of policies that aim to eliminate such inequalities.

Work and Employment

For countries, women¡¯s inclusion in the labor market is a key driver of national growth and economic development. For women, income generated through market-based work can improve their bargaining power and decision-making. Going beyond market-based work, it is important to capture all types of work to account for gender differences in care work and household responsibilities that may limit an individual¡¯s available time for employment activities. Accurate data on work and employment are needed to design labor policies and training programs that account for the realities of local labor markets and the gendered characteristics of the workforce. Methodologically sound work and employment data are needed to monitor international goals such as the SDGs and national development plans.

Asset Control and Ownership

Research has shown that ownership and control over assets¡ªsuch as land and financial accounts¡ªcan have many benefits for women. It can ease access to credit and help boost productivity and income while also improving women¡¯s bargaining power and decision-making within households. Therefore, accurate information on intrahousehold asset ownership and control can play an important role in policy making on economic empowerment, including the design of land reforms. Additionally, monitoring international goals such as the SDGs on land ownership and rights relies fundamentally on the quality of underlying data, which, in the context of surveys, is directly affected by how respondents are selected. These issues are particularly relevant for agriculture in developing countries where a clearer understanding of individual land ownership and rights can help raise productivity and secure property rights among farmers. Access to formal financial services such as savings, insurance, payments, credit, and remittances is essential to the ability of people to manage their lives, build their futures, and grow their businesses.