Tunisia in the Global Gender Gap Report 2018

Next, the indicator estimating the income earned by men and women (in US$ and adjusted according to the purchasing power) obtained a grade of 0,270. Women earned on average a yearly income of 5 098US$, and men, 18 889US$. The gap is colossal. The results suggest that the economic power remains mostly in the hands of men. Men remain the main economic reference of the household and often retain control over their financial assets. This gap can be explained by two different phenomena. The most important one is the magnitude of unremunerated work in Tunisia. Women carry out most of the unpaid labor, such as domestic work, family care and child care. The second phenomenon is that there is a growing gap between women’s and men’s revenue. The report highlights the fact that there aren’t any laws imposing pay equity.

Finally, the indicator on labor market participation received a grade of 0,354. This result is far behind the global average of 0,669 and ranks Tunisia 137th out of 149 countries. The rate of participation in the workforce proves the great gap in men’s and women’s participation on the labor market. This rate measures the proportion of working age population (15 to 64 years old) that participate actively on the labor market, either it be by working or by seeking work. The rate of participation in the workforce is of only 27,1% for Tunisian women, while it is of 76,6% for Tunisian men. This means only 27,1% of Tunisian women that are of working age actively participate on the labor market. This could be explained by the lack of antidiscrimination laws against women in the workplace and the high female unemployment rate (22,2% for women, which is almost double the rate of 12,5% of men).

Even though Tunisia was near the global average on political empowerment of women (0,223), Tunisia remains far from parity. The first indicator “Women in Parliament” measures the percentage of seats in Parliament held by women. Results show the Tunisian Parliament is composed of 31,3% of women, and of 68,7% of men. The report highlights the fact that political parties have not adopted voluntary quotas to encourage women’s participation.

The second and third indicator measures the gap between men and women at the highest level of political decision-making. The indicator “Women Holding a Ministerial Position” measures the percentage of ministerial portfolios held by women. In Tunisia, only 21,3% of ministerial portfolios are held by women, while 76,9% of such portfolios are held by men. Finally, the third indicator estimates the total number of years (during the ultimate fifty years) which saw a woman be Head of State or Head of the elected government. Tunisia obtained a grade of 0,00 since no woman has ever been head of State. The last fifty years have only seen men hold this top political position.