Magnitude of Inequality

מהו תחום החיים שבו הפערים בין נשים לגברים הם הגדולים ביותר? מהו התחום השוויוני ביותר? אומדן עומק האי שוויון במדד המגדר מאפשר להשוות בין הממדים (תחומים) השונים במדד ולקבוע באיזה ממד הפער המגדרי הגדול ביותר ובאיזה הקטן ביותר. פירוט מלא של המתודולוגיה לחישוב עומק האי שוויון מופיע ב דוח מדד המגדר.

Due to methodological constraints, not all of the Gender Index's indicators are included in this measure. the indicators included were those with numeric values for both women and men. For example, if the gap between the average gross monthly income of women and men in a specific year is 30%, and the gap between the hourly wages of women and men is 15%, then the inequality in monthly income is over twice as large as that in hourly income. Thus, in about 70% of all indicators in the index, it is possible to compare the magnitude or depth of inequality, to identify areas where there are more inequalities, and to rank the indicators according to the severity of their inequality.

הממדים שכל האינדיקטורים בהם נכללים במדידת עומק האי-שוויון הם: השכלה, שוק העבודה, עוני, זמן, החברה החרדית, ופריפריה. הממדים שרק חלק מהאינדיקטורים בהם נכללים במדידה: עוצמה, מגדור מקצועי, משפחה וילודה, אלימות כלפי נשים, בריאות והחברה הערבית. ארבעת הממדים שנותרו מחוץ למדידת עומק האי-שוויון הם משפחה וילודה, אלימות כלפי נשים, בריאות, ותרבות ותקשורת. ממד משפחה וילודה לא נכלל בתרשים משום שהאינדיקטור של ראשות משפחות חד-הוריות הופך את עומק האי-שוויון בממד זה לקיצוני ואינו מאפשר התבוננות השוואתית בממדים; ממד האלימות כלפי נשים לא נכלל בתרשים משום שבהגדרתו אין בו השוואה לאלימות כלפי גברים, ולכן לאי-שוויון בו אין ממד של עומק אלא רק של כיוון; ממד הבריאות לא נכלל בתרשים כיוון שהוא מורכב מאינדיקטור יחיד; ממד התרבות והתקשורת לא נכלל בתרשים משום שהאינדיקטורים בו מבוססים על נקודות זמן מעטות מדי.

The magnitude of inequality calculation aligns itself with those indicators that use standard quantitative measurement. This means indicators with values that can be expressed in numeric terms for both men and women and therefore offer a relatively conservative measurement of gender inequality in the sense that it pertains to issues that are conventionally recognized in professional discourse and by policy makers as reflective of gender disparities in society. Focus on these indicators neglects the less traditional and more innovative indicators, which are employed less in most indexes. This is particularly evident with regard to violence against women and culture & media domains. The magnitude of inequality is hence a more conventional and less challenging tool in terms of the issues it measures. However, it does pose a challenge to the professional discourse in terms of methodology, since most of the existing indexes do not feature this kind of measurement in multiple domains.

The two charts below show two different calculations of the magnitude of inequality: The first chart shows the magnitude of gender inequality in the different domains. It can be seen that in the power and gender segregation of professios domains, inequality between women and men is the deepest, and in the education and time domains, inequality is the lowest.

The second diagram shows changes over time in the magnitude of inequality for all the indicators included in the estimate. As the chart shows, the depth of inequality in 2004, the first year of measurement, was 75%. The deepest inequality was measured in 2007 (79%), and in subsequent years there was a gradual decline to 68% in 2010. In 2011, inequality again deepened to 75%. In 2012, there has been an improvement and since then the depth of inequality has ranged from 65% to 66%. In 2016 there was another improvement and the depth of inequality dropped to 60%. The decline in the depth of inequality in recent years is mainly due to changes in three domains: education, poverty and power (mainly political power). In Arab society (where the depth of inequality is measured separately), there is a tendency of reduced gaps, although the gender gaps there are much higher than the gaps in Israeli society as a whole. The gender gaps in the poverty domain have narrowed as a result of the deterioration in the general situation of the middle and lower deciles in the population. The narrowing of gender gaps in the political power dimension is due to the increase in the number of women elected as Knesset members in the 2013 elections or who entered the Knesset thereafter (until the 21st Knesset elections). In conclusion, according to the gender index, inequality between men and women in Israel has remained unchanged in recent years.