Women - SME Finance

Women - SME Finance

Women, Business and the Law – SME Finance

Women – SME Finance Categorized Indicators (WSCI)

Women, Business and the Law 2021 is the seventh in a series of annual studies measuring the laws and regulations that affect women’s economic opportunity in 190 economies. The project presents eight indicators structured around women’s interactions with the law as they move through their lives and careers: Mobility, Workplace, Pay, Marriage, Parenthood, Entrepreneurship, Assets, and Pension. This year’s report updates all indicators as of October 1, 2020 and builds evidence of the links between legal gender equality and women’s economic inclusion. By examining the economic decisions women make throughout their working lives, as well as the pace of reform over the past 50 years, Women, Business and the Law 2021 makes an important contribution to research and policy discussions about the state of women’s economic empowerment. Prepared during a global pandemic that threatens progress toward gender equality, findings on government responses to COVID-19 and pilot research related to childcare and women’s access to justice.

https://wbl.worldbank.org/en/wbl

 

SME Finance Forum - Women Business and the Law (WBL)

Women-SME Finance Categorized Indicators (WSCI)

The SME Finance categorized Indicators, identify and categorize Women Business and the Law 2021 questions of relevance for SME finance. It is a first step to systematically aggregate and collate gender data to understand the factors, monitor trends and progress.

Women entrepreneurs make significant contributions to their economies. The 2017 MSME Finance GAP indicates women-owned businesses comprise 28% of business establishments and account for 32% of the MSME finance gap estimated at 1.7 trillion.

Across regions, women entrepreneurs have lower access to finance than their male counterparts, and the terms of borrowing can often be less favorable. This restricts the growth of women-owned businesses and inhibits their ability to contribute fully to the economy.

Collecting and analyzing gender disaggregated data is a first step to incorporating a gender perspective into the development of appropriate financial services for women.

The Women Business and the Law 2021 examines progress toward gender equality by measuring the laws and regulations that restrict women’s economic inclusion in 190 economies. The report draws on readily comparable data across eight indicators: Mobility, Workplace, Pay, Parenthood, Entrepreneurship, Assets, and Pension.

The Women Business and the Law data set is the most comprehensive Gender Data set that covers 190 economies and the systematic trend analysis can facilitate measurement of progress and gaps over time with the ease of updates. As stakeholders realize the usefulness, we can explore opportunities to move this and the entire SME Gender data agenda to the next level.

This data set identified 35 questions across the eight indicators, as detailed in the annex.  

What do Women-SME Finance Categorized Indicators (WSCI) mean?

The Women-SME Finance Categorized Indicators (WSCI) measure to what extent the legal and regulatory environment in a country enables women to do business. This dataset is relevant to SME Finance in the Women, Business and the Law data from various aspects, and aims to provide a better view of what improvements are called for to help women access finance.

What was the data source used?

This version of results is based on Women, Business and the Law data 2021.

 https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/35094?cid=dec_tt_research_en_ext_womenbusinesslaw+

How was the total score calculated?

Each of eight indicators have a selected set of questions. Each ‘Yes’ is counted as 1 and ‘No’ as 0. These numbers are totaled and the percentage of 1s recorded within each indicator represents the ‘indicator score’. The scores of all indicators are then averaged to form the ‘WBL economy score’.

In the above visualization, the individual indicator scores are shown as a categorical variable.

For indicators with four questions:-

Indicator Score

Category

0

Very Weak

25

Weak

50

Moderate

75

Strong

100

Very Strong

 

For indicators with five questions:-

Indicator Score

Category

0

Very Weak

20

Weak

40

Low Moderate

60

High Moderate

80

Strong

100

Very Strong

 

Annex: List of Women, Business and the Law Questions

Indicator

Question

Mobility

Can a woman choose where to live in the same way as a man?

Can a woman travel outside her home in the same way as a man?

Can a woman apply for a passport in the same way as a man?

Can a woman travel outside the country in the same way as a man?

Workplace

Can a woman get a job in the same way as a man?

Does the law prohibit discrimination in employment based on gender?

Is there legislation on sexual harassment in employment?

Are there criminal penalties or civil remedies for sexual harassment in employment?

Pay

Does the law mandate equal remuneration for work of equal value?

Can a woman work at night in the same way as a man?

Can a woman work in a job deemed dangerous in the same way as a man?

Can a woman work in an industrial job in the same way as a man?

Marriage

Is there no legal provision that requires a married woman to obey her husband?

Can a woman be head of household in the same way as a man?

Is there legislation specifically addressing domestic violence?

Can a woman obtain a judgment of divorce in the same way as a man?

Does a woman have the same rights to remarry as a man?

Parenthood

Is paid leave of at least 14 weeks available to mothers?

Does the government administer 100% of maternity leave benefits?

Is paid leave available to fathers?

Is there paid parental leave?

Is dismissal of pregnant workers prohibited?

Entrepreneurship

Does the law prohibit discrimination in access to credit based on gender?

Can a woman sign a contract in the same way as a man?

Can a woman register a business in the same way as man?

Can a woman open a bank account in the same way as a man?

Assets

Do men and women have equal ownership rights to immovable property?

Do sons and daughters have equal rights to inherit assets from their parents?

Do male and female surviving spouses have equal rights to inherit assets?

Does the law grant spouse equal administrative authority over assets during marriage?

Does the law provide for the valuation of nonmonetary contributions?

Pension

Is the age at which men and woman can retire with full pension benefits the same?

Is the age at which mean and woman can retire with partial pension

Is the mandatory retirement age for men and women the same?

Are periods of absence due to children accounted for in pension benefits?