Bhutan Prioritizes Gross National Happiness Over Gross Domestic Product

In 1949, French philosopher Simone de Beauvoir published 'The Second Sex' (Le Deuxième Sexe), a landmark work of feminist philosophy that argued women are not born inferior but are made so by society. Her famous opening phrase — 'One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman' — challenged the idea that femininity is natural or inevitable. The book sold 22,000 copies in its first week, was banned by the Vatican, and became a foundational text of second-wave feminism worldwide.

Despite comprising roughly half the world's population, women account for approximately 70% of those living in extreme poverty (under $2.15/day). This disparity stems from multiple interconnected causes: unequal access to education and land ownership, discriminatory inheritance laws, higher rates of unpaid care work, and exclusion from financial services. The COVID-19 pandemic set back women's economic progress by years, pushing millions back into poverty.

For the first time in history, women now outnumber men among university graduates in most developed countries and globally. In the United States, women earn about 57% of all bachelor's degrees. In the OECD, 56% of new graduates are women. This trend is driven by higher female educational attainment rates and greater ambition in academic achievement. However, gender gaps remain in STEM fields — particularly engineering, computing, and physics.

Globally, women earn approximately 80% of what men earn for comparable work — a gap that persists across nearly all countries and industries. The World Economic Forum estimates that at the current rate of progress, it will take over 130 years to close the global gender pay gap completely. Factors include occupational segregation, the motherhood penalty, unconscious bias in hiring, and under-representation in senior roles. Countries like Iceland, Finland, and Norway have the smallest gaps.