Gender and regional inequality in human development: the case of Spain1

This article contains some of the results of a larger project: “Human Development and Poverty: A Gender Approach,” financed by the Women's Institute of the Ministry of Social Affairs (Instituto de la Mujer del Ministerio de Asuntos Sociales) in Spain.

Abstract

In this paper, we present estimates of the Human Development Index and the Gender-Related Development Index in the Autonomous Communities of Spain. Our case study of Spain, a developed country with clear gender and regional differences, demonstrates the importance of adjusting human development indices in accordance with gender discrimination and regional inequalities. We also show the significance of the income component in assessing the development level of women in countries like Spain, where lack of employment or low remuneration are the chief characteristics of women's inequality. Our analysis makes clear that the Gender-Related Human Development Index has limited applicability in developed countries; it also illustrates the need for alternative variables or models to assess inequality in those countries.

Keywords:

• Gender
• human development
• HDI
• GDI
• Spain
• Autonomous Communities

Notes

JEL Codes: C8, O1, R1

This article contains some of the results of a larger project: “Human Development and Poverty: A Gender Approach,” financed by the Women's Institute of the Ministry of Social Affairs (Instituto de la Mujer del Ministerio de Asuntos Sociales) in Spain.

Not until the Cairo Conference on Population and Development, in 1994, did some researchers emphasize the relevance of women in analyzing population policy. Until then, the subjects (and objects) of demographic policies, family planning law, etc., were a mix of “family,” “parents,” and, to a lesser extent, of “women,” as shown by the endorsement of the final papers at the population conferences held in Bucharest and Mexico in 1974 and 1984, respectively.

To gain insight into this problem, it is essential to consider the link between the productive and reproductive spheres. If women take full responsibility for domestic work – their position in the labor market is weakened and they must depend on men's wages. This situation results in asymmetrical gender relationships. The traditional approach fails to provide an analysis of subordination, because it focuses on the production of goods without providing a global perspective on gender relationships in both the productive and the reproductive fields.

According to the human development paradigm, the multidimensional deprivation of human development is a case of “human poverty.” So, development and poverty would be the two ways (achievement and hardship) of regarding a single process. We have considered the feminization of human poverty in our other research, not included in this paper.

Or, as the terminology in the Human Development Reports shows, the GESI formula (Gender Equity Sensitive Indices). This formula refers to the design of each component index through a harmonic mean of the corresponding male and female indices, adjusted in accordance with the gender composition of the whole population.

In the logarithmical method, in order to make the calculation of the “equally distributed earned income index” (EDEA_EI), the total GDP (of both men and women) is applied to female participation in wages. As a result, gender differences in share of income among Autonomous Communities are partially concealed by the total income level of each community.

We must throw into relief how, in this case, the national average hides differences among the Autonomous Communities of up to 23 percent. The data source, the INEBASE, gives no explanation of how the national average is estimated, which is quite surprising, since in 15 out of 17 Autonomous Communities this ratio is substantially below the national figures. One explanation could be that most of the working women are employed in communities where inequalities are less pronounced.

We wish to thank our female colleagues at the Center for Women's Studies at the University of Alicante (Centro de Estudios de la Mujer de la Universidad de Alicante) for their suggestions and comments on these approaches during the presentation of this paper. Unfortunately, we do not have disaggregated data pertaining to ACs and gender.

A recent landmark in this respect was reached at the symposium “Times, Jobs and Gender,” organized by the Jobs, Institutions and Gender research group (Treballs, Institucions i Gènere) of the Universitat de Barcelona, in February 2001.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Javier Martínez Peinado

JEL Codes: C8, O1, R1