Israel was ranked 30th out of 100 countries in female opportunity and achievement in an index compiled by German neobank N26.
The Female Opportunity Index looks at the advancement in equality and career opportunities for women in the 100 selected countries with comparable data, and focuses on political and corporate leadership, gender wage gaps, legal support, maternity leave and more.
The study was carried out by selecting 100 countries with comparable data on women in the workplace. To establish the level of relative gender equality in each country, N26 calculated how many years each country has been ruled by a woman since 1970, as well as the total number of women in government or parliamentary positions.
They then did the same with the number of women in managerial positions, as well as considering the data on female entrepreneurs in each country, to determine which nations had the strongest female leadership opportunities out of the 100 countries in the study.
The study also focused on the number of women each country had working and studying in the typically male-dominated arena of STEM – the academic disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The average salary and gender wage gap across all fields was also calculated.
Finally, female access to education was examined as an important indicator and enabler of opportunity, as well as legislation such as a woman’s right to divorce and workplace discrimination laws. The total days of maternity leave allowed in each country was also included in the study as N26 considered it a clear indicator of whether or not women are able to balance having a family with a career.
EACH COUNTRY was then given a score between 50-100, with 50 being the lowest and 100 being the highest.
The scoring system is only applicable in relation to the scores of the other countries in the study, and is not a definitive or perfect score, rather it just indicates that out of the 100 countries selected for the study, one has done comparably better than the others.
Israel ranked 30th overall, with a total score of 84.55. Norway came first, followed by Finland, Iceland, the UK and then Germany. The United States was placed 48th and Pakistan placed last with the lowest possible total score of 50.
Israel fared better when examining female access to education, ranking fourth overall with a score of 98.8, following Japan, Canada and Czechia. The US placed 21st with a score of 94.2.
However, when it came to the number of women in management roles and government, Israel fared poorly, placing 69th with a score of 85.2, and 61st with a score of 87.98, respectively.
Additionally, Israel received a score of 95.51 for number of female entrepreneurs, 94.7 for women in STEM, 91.1 for salary and wage gap, and 75.5 for gender-related legislation.
ISRAEL GIVES 105 paid days of maternity leave, and since 1970 has had a female head of government for five years: Golda Meir served as the fourth prime minister of Israel between 1969-1974.
“For many women, financial independence is the only means through which they can determine how they want to live, and yet it often comes at the expense of being the primary caregiver and having the lion’s share of domestic duties at home,” commented Adrienne Gormley, COO of N26.
“Coupled with the gender salary wage gap that continues to be a huge impediment to female earnings, there are still many more obstacles for women who want to achieve the level of financial success that men take for granted,” she said.
“We conducted this study because we at N26 truly believe that women should have the same opportunities and freedom to be as financially independent as men, and this starts with having equal opportunity to be self-sufficient.”
While Israel appears to have scored well in almost every area, the scores only reflect the placement of Israel in comparison to the other countries. Therefore, while Israel received a score of 87.98 for the total number of women in government, in reality only a third of Knesset members are women – 40 out of 120 – meaning that it is still not representative of the Israeli demographic which is roughly 50% female, as it is in most of the world.
While Israel received a score of 91.1 for the gender wage gap, in reality, Israel is one of the four Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries with the highest gender-related wage gap, according to the Israel Women’s Network.
In 2018, the gap grew from 24.7% to 27.5%, according to the Central Bureau for Statistics.
“At N26 we firmly believe that everyone, regardless of gender, should have the opportunity and freedom to live the lives they chose,” Gormley said. “And yes, there’s much more to life than money, but we think it’s a good place to start. When we feel in control of our finances, we feel more confident, more independent and more optimistic about our future, helping us to reach our full potential.”