Gender Equality For Well-being: A Cross-country Analysis

This thesis explores the relationship between gender equality and national well-being across 60 countries from 1995 to 2014. Using OLS regressions, the empirical results suggest that gender equality in education, employment and politics has a positive and significant effect on life satisfaction and the Human Development Index. Results for life satisfaction are robust to the inclusion of time fixed effects and changes in controls, while estimates for the HDI are more sensitive to those modifications. Besides, OECD members are worse off in terms of national subjective well-being when the female labour force participation rises relative to men. Policies focusing on national well-being should consider promoting gender equality, starting with gender parity in politics.