Philippines among countries with best labor for women

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is among the countries with conducive working environment for women in terms of rights and opportunity, according to a new report by the World Bank.

The country scored above the global average in the bank’s “Women, Business and the Law 2019 Index” that measures the quality of legal and business environments that support women’s decision to work or have their own businesses in 187 countries worldwide.

Based on eight indicators, the study examined how women’s employment and entrepreneurship choices are affected by discriminatory laws and regulations throughout every stage of their working lives – going places, starting a job, getting paid, getting married, having children, running a business, managing assets and getting a pension.

The Philippines ranked 75th among the countries surveyed with an overall score of 81.25 versus the average global score of 74.71.

The country roughly has the same average as Vietnam, and is just behind Singapore, Switzerland and the United States.

The top performers in the index were Belgium, Denmark and France, all of which scored 100, indicating that women are on equal footing with men across all indicators.

Worst performers in the index were Sudan, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, which scored 25 to 29.

The report said the present median global score already indicates “significant progress” compared with 10 years ago when the average global score was 70.06.