How do women around the world rate their lives? In the lead-up to International Women’s Day on March 8, Gallup World Poll released the most recent results of a global survey that asked women just that. The results were presented on March 4 at the annual Global Women Summit hosted by Diplomatic Courier and Women’s Democracy Network.
“One in four women worldwide—or about 620 million women—rate their lives positively enough to be considered ‘thriving’,” Gallup reported. “The life ratings of the rest—or about 2 billion women—place them in a category of ‘struggling’ or ‘suffering’.”
The survey data are based on telephone and face-to-face interviews with 125,839 adults, aged 15 and older, gathered in 2013 in 136 countries and areas around the world. From these interviews, Gallup took a representative sampling of 66,313 women, with a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin for error less than ±1 percent.
Gallup has conducted polls like this since 2005 in more than 160 countries in total. They ask women to rate their current and future lives on a scale of 0 to 10. Women are considered “thriving” if they rate their current lives a 7 or higher, or if they give themselves 8 or higher for the next five years. They are deemed “suffering” if they give themselves 4 or below in both their current life situation and for the next five years.
Although these figures have remained somewhat stable over the past decade, they illustrate a growing concern for the wellbeing of women around the world.
Thriving and Suffering
The results reveal that women in developed countries tend to view themselves as thriving. Iceland, Sweden, and Denmark topped the list, with 77 to 68 percent of women in these countries saying they were thriving. These countries and others like them with more than 60 percent of their women thriving, including the United States, Australia, and Austria, also rank highly on the UN’s Human Development Index. Gallup believes this correlation suggests that countries with strong economic and human rights offer a better environment for women.
Unstable nations, on the other hand, such as Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Egypt, are home to the greatest number of suffering women. Physical conflict is not the only negative indicator, though, as Greece and Bulgaria also scored highly on the suffering list. Economic devastation appears to impact the lives of women just as deeply as military conflict, and the divide between thriving and suffering in many countries remains dismally wide, with the majority of respondents falling into the struggling category.
Emotional Experience
In addition to an overall life ranking, Gallup also reported on the general emotional state of women, focusing on stress, anger, pain, sadness, and worry. As they did in the general ranking, Iraq, Iran, and other countries facing ongoing conflict yielded the highest negative emotions. Women in Iceland and Sweden, however, were among the countries where women experience the most positive emotions. Former Soviet countries, such as Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan, were the least positive.
Positive daily emotional experiences ranged from smiling and laughing to feeling good about learning something new or being well-rested or treated with respect. These responses add another dimension to the global assessment of women’s lives. Despite more than 2 billion women around the world reporting they are struggling, over 70 percent said they regularly experience positive emotions, and half reported learning and doing interesting things. Women in Latin American nations had the highest Positive Experience Index, together with women in Southeast Asia and European countries. As in previous surveys, women in countries such as Syria, Chad, and Bulgaria reported the lowest levels of positive emotion, reinforcing the correlation between quality of life and overall national development.
For the Future
With women suffering most in areas affected by conflict, it is evident that women’s lives are closely linked to stability, development, and economic prosperity. Although the overall figures show that many women’s lives around the world are difficult, the study also indicates that many rate the quality of their lives generally higher than men, suggesting they can play a critical role in improving their nations. “Encouraging women’s participation—particularly in emerging markets where gender gaps are widest—not only can improve how women are doing, but also can fuel economic growth in their countries,” Gallup concluded. The first step, perhaps, would be to transform their positive daily experiences into positive, valued contributions to society. This, in turn, would help to promote their country’s quality of life on the whole—giving momentum to a virtuous cycle.
To learn more about this study visit Gallup Poll.
Photo: UNDP Photo by Dilip Lokre.
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Two Billion Suffering: Gallup Asks Women How They Rate Their Lives
March 6, 2015
How do women around the world rate their lives? In the lead-up to International Women’s Day on March 8, Gallup World Poll released the most recent results of a global survey that asked women just that. The results were presented on March 4 at the annual Global Women Summit hosted by Diplomatic Courier and Women’s Democracy Network.
“One in four women worldwide—or about 620 million women—rate their lives positively enough to be considered ‘thriving’,” Gallup reported. “The life ratings of the rest—or about 2 billion women—place them in a category of ‘struggling’ or ‘suffering’.”
The survey data are based on telephone and face-to-face interviews with 125,839 adults, aged 15 and older, gathered in 2013 in 136 countries and areas around the world. From these interviews, Gallup took a representative sampling of 66,313 women, with a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin for error less than ±1 percent.
Gallup has conducted polls like this since 2005 in more than 160 countries in total. They ask women to rate their current and future lives on a scale of 0 to 10. Women are considered “thriving” if they rate their current lives a 7 or higher, or if they give themselves 8 or higher for the next five years. They are deemed “suffering” if they give themselves 4 or below in both their current life situation and for the next five years.
Although these figures have remained somewhat stable over the past decade, they illustrate a growing concern for the wellbeing of women around the world.
Thriving and Suffering
The results reveal that women in developed countries tend to view themselves as thriving. Iceland, Sweden, and Denmark topped the list, with 77 to 68 percent of women in these countries saying they were thriving. These countries and others like them with more than 60 percent of their women thriving, including the United States, Australia, and Austria, also rank highly on the UN’s Human Development Index. Gallup believes this correlation suggests that countries with strong economic and human rights offer a better environment for women.
Unstable nations, on the other hand, such as Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Egypt, are home to the greatest number of suffering women. Physical conflict is not the only negative indicator, though, as Greece and Bulgaria also scored highly on the suffering list. Economic devastation appears to impact the lives of women just as deeply as military conflict, and the divide between thriving and suffering in many countries remains dismally wide, with the majority of respondents falling into the struggling category.
Emotional Experience
In addition to an overall life ranking, Gallup also reported on the general emotional state of women, focusing on stress, anger, pain, sadness, and worry. As they did in the general ranking, Iraq, Iran, and other countries facing ongoing conflict yielded the highest negative emotions. Women in Iceland and Sweden, however, were among the countries where women experience the most positive emotions. Former Soviet countries, such as Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan, were the least positive.
Positive daily emotional experiences ranged from smiling and laughing to feeling good about learning something new or being well-rested or treated with respect. These responses add another dimension to the global assessment of women’s lives. Despite more than 2 billion women around the world reporting they are struggling, over 70 percent said they regularly experience positive emotions, and half reported learning and doing interesting things. Women in Latin American nations had the highest Positive Experience Index, together with women in Southeast Asia and European countries. As in previous surveys, women in countries such as Syria, Chad, and Bulgaria reported the lowest levels of positive emotion, reinforcing the correlation between quality of life and overall national development.
For the Future
With women suffering most in areas affected by conflict, it is evident that women’s lives are closely linked to stability, development, and economic prosperity. Although the overall figures show that many women’s lives around the world are difficult, the study also indicates that many rate the quality of their lives generally higher than men, suggesting they can play a critical role in improving their nations. “Encouraging women’s participation—particularly in emerging markets where gender gaps are widest—not only can improve how women are doing, but also can fuel economic growth in their countries,” Gallup concluded. The first step, perhaps, would be to transform their positive daily experiences into positive, valued contributions to society. This, in turn, would help to promote their country’s quality of life on the whole—giving momentum to a virtuous cycle.
To learn more about this study visit Gallup Poll.
Photo: UNDP Photo by Dilip Lokre.
