Transformations  in
Business & Economics

Gender Equality Measurements in Lithuania
Dalia Streimikiene, Ilona Kiausiene

ABSTRACT. Gender inequality is the priority area of EU policy. Seeking to shape effective policies to combat with gender inequality and to measure achieved progress in this area; the indices of gender inequality play important role. There are many indicators of inequality representing different aspects on gender inequality ranging from social-economic to institutional and cultural issues. The main measures of gender inequalities can be found in the following areas: education; poverty; health; labor market; access to resources; education; globalization; governance; conflict and emergencies; human rights etc. However it is necessary to have one indicator which allows assessing gender inequality in all aspects to compare countries in terms of level of gender inequality.

It is important to have good statistics disaggregated by gender. Such statistics helps to evaluate the status quo, inform policies, and stimulate and measure change by raising awareness amongst policy-makers and providing a foundation for development of new policies in this area. There are some limitations of certain statistics and the validity of certain indicators for gender inequality measurements. In addition the validity of certain indicators are questionable. There is a need for new indicator, covering all issues of gender inequalities. Integrated indicator of gender inequality is proposed in the paper. This indicator is based on multi-criteria analysis and normalization of several the most important gender inequality indicators being applied by various international institutions dealing with gender issues.

KEYWORDS: gender equality, integrated indicators, gender equality measurement, Lithuania.

JEL classification: J16, J21, P2.