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Figure 3.2Women’s personal income as a percentage of men’s before transfers (market income) and after transfers(disposable income), 2000-2010Across countries, social transfers narrow but do not eliminate the gender gap in income from paidemploymentMarket incomePer cent908070605040307384807567777366736761727165607061 6058 5957 57 57 57554854 5552 54 514633 33Disposable income20100FinlandDenmarkSwedenCanadaChinaNorwayIrelandUnited KingdomAustraliaUnited StatesCzech RepublicColombiaSouth AfricaItalyAustriaBrazilGuatemalaSource: Gornick and Jäntti 2014, based on data from the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) Database.Note: Market income includes, for example, income from earnings (both employee and self-employed earnings) and occupational pensions (public and private). Disposable income adds, forexample, state old-age and survivors benefits, unemployment benefits, short-term sickness and injury benefits, child-related benefits and family leave benefits. Both market and disposableincome are net of taxes. Data refer to the most recent available during the period specified.From a gender equality perspective, the growingemphasis on social protection in low- andmiddle-income countries is encouraging. Greateraccess to non-contributory pensions can enhancewomen’s income security in old age, whileincreasing cash transfers to families with childrencan promote investment in girls’ education as wellas women’s economic activity (both discussedfurther in this Chapter). Nevertheless, socialtransfer systems face serious challenges in manycountries, including insufficient coverage, lowbenefit levels and institutional fragmentation.Meanwhile, many high-income countries arereducing social protection in response to austeritymeasures (see Chapter 4). 33The following sections focus on the three main typesof social transfers that support income security atdifferent stages of the life course: child and familyallowances, including conditional cash transferschemes; unemployment protection, includingemployment guarantee schemes; and old-agepensions, including both contributory and noncontributoryschemes. For each type of transfer,different modes of benefit provision—universal andmeans-tested, conditional and non-conditional—are analysed through the lens of substantiveequality. Finally, the sections highlight pathways fortransforming social transfer systems towards greatergender equality, through women’s active participationin their design, management and monitoring.