 | This article may be confusing or unclear to readers. (November 2021) |
 | This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. (November 2021) |
Economic development in the country of Bhutan has increased opportunities for women to participate in fields such as medicine (both as physicians and nurses), teaching, and administration. Women were providing more labor than men in all sectors of the economy. Less than 4 percent of the total female work force was unemployed, compared with nearly 10 percent of men who had no occupation. In particular, nearly 10 percent of government employees were women by 1989. During their government careers, women civil servants were allowed three months of maternity leave with full pay for three deliveries and leave without pay for any additional deliveries.
Although women elected to office remained relatively few (14% before local elections according to the UNHCR), more than half of voters in initial local government elections were women. This has raised the question of whether women would benefit from quotas in public service.
In 1981, the government founded the National Women's Association of Bhutan to improve the socioeconomic status of women, particularly those in rural areas.
 Woman in Bhutan, 2011[clarification needed] | |
| General Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Maternal mortality (per 100,000) | 180 (2010) |
| Women in parliament | 13.9% (2012) |
| Women over 25 with secondary education | 34.0% (2010) |
| Women in labour force | 65.8% (2011) |
| Gender Inequality Index[1] | |
| Value | 0.415 (2021) |
| Rank | 98th out of 191 |
| Global Gender Gap Index[2] | |
| Value | 0.637 (2022) |
| Rank | 126th out of 146 |
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| Women in society |
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- ^ "Human Development Report 2021/2022" (PDF). HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORTS. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
- ^ "Global Gender Gap Report 2022" (PDF). World Economic Forum. Retrieved 1 March 2023.