How Equal Laws Transform Women’s Economic Futures and Power Global Prosperity

The report shows that gender-equal laws significantly expand women’s economic opportunities, boost labor force participation, and contribute to national growth—yet reforms only succeed when paired with strong enforcement and supportive institutions. It concludes that legal equality is a powerful foundation, but without shifts in norms and policy implementation, its transformative potential remains only partially realized.

The World Bank’s Global Indicators Group, drawing on research from institutions such as the IMF, OECD, ILO, NBER, CEPR, and leading universities including Harvard, Yale, Oxford, and MIT, argues that law is one of the most powerful but understated forces shaping women’s economic lives. The paper reveals that 3.9 billion women still face formal legal barriers, and in 37 countries, they enjoy fewer than half the legal rights of men. These restrictions are not symbolic; they have measurable economic consequences. Countries with stronger gender-equal legal frameworks show significantly higher female labor force participation, narrower wage gaps, and greater productivity. A one-point rise in the Women, Business and the Law (WBL) Index is associated with nearly a half-percentage-point increase in women’s labor participation, even after controlling for income levels. At the macro level, closing gender gaps could add USD 12 trillion to global GDP.

When Safety Becomes Economic Policy

The review shows that legal protections around child marriage, sexual harassment, domestic violence, and femicide profoundly influence women’s economic autonomy. Ethiopia’s revised family code reduced child marriage and delayed early births, while Bangladesh saw clear improvements in women’s agency when marriage was delayed. Domestic violence legislation in Peru and China significantly reduced abuse and strengthened women’s well-being and bargaining power. Yet the report warns that laws without strong enforcement can provoke backlash. Ecuador’s enhanced femicide penalties initially triggered more gender-based violence in some regions, demonstrating that safety laws must be paired with institutional capacity and social support systems to be effective.

Mobility, Workplace Rights and the Subtle Barriers that Persist

Among the least studied legal domains is mobility, which determines whether women can choose where to live, travel freely, or confer citizenship. Restrictions of this kind reduce women’s financial inclusion, limit access to credit, and shape labor market outcomes. Migration bans intended to “protect” women workers in South and Southeast Asia instead push them into irregular migration channels with lower wages and higher risks. In the workplace, formal anti-discrimination laws have reduced wage gaps but often generated unintended consequences. The U.S. Equal Pay Act and Civil Rights Act increased women’s earnings but encouraged firms to adopt hiring and promotion practices that limited long-term advancement. Pregnancy discrimination laws reduced wrongful dismissals, yet decreased hiring of women of childbearing age. Evidence from Denmark, Finland, and the Netherlands shows that even with equal-opportunity laws, informal networks and opaque recruitment processes sustain gender disparities.

Childcare, Leave Policies and the Architecture of Opportunity

The report identifies childcare and parental leave as some of the most transformative legal tools for boosting women’s employment. Subsidized childcare expansions in Quebec, Norway, Germany, and Indonesia significantly increased maternal labor force participation while improving children’s development outcomes. A randomized evaluation in Burkina Faso showed that childcare access improved women’s psychological well-being and savings. Yet poorly designed models can produce adverse results: Chile’s employer-financed childcare mandate reduced women’s starting wages by shifting compliance costs onto firms and, ultimately, onto female employees. On parental leave, the evidence is equally striking. Paid maternity leave boosts maternal health and long-term employment stability, but excessively long leaves can impede career progression. Non-transferable paid paternity leave, such as Quebec’s “daddy quota” and Sweden’s reforms, reshapes caregiving norms, reducing the motherhood penalty and increasing men’s involvement at home long after the leave period ends.

Property, Entrepreneurship and the Power of Equal Rights

Some of the strongest impacts emerge from reforms to property and inheritance rights. India’s amendments to the Hindu Succession Act increased women’s likelihood of inheriting assets, improved girls’ educational outcomes, and shifted reproductive decisions. Similar reforms in Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Lesotho expanded women’s employment options, increased access to credit, and improved household well-being. In entrepreneurship, equal access to credit laws and targeted programs, such as Chile’s initiative for women entrepreneurs, significantly increased lending to female-led firms. Corporate board gender quotas in Norway and the U.S. state of California activated new leadership pipelines, although initial market reactions were mixed.

The review concludes that gender-equal laws are a necessary foundation for women’s economic empowerment, but cannot succeed in isolation. Without enforcement, complementary social policies, and shifts in entrenched norms, legal equality remains only theoretical. Still, the evidence is clear: when laws change, and when institutions ensure those laws are lived, not just written, women’s economic opportunities expand, households prosper, and nations grow more inclusive and more prosperous.