Undercurrent-Issue-Fall-Winter-2014-3

The Gender Development Index and Gender Empowerment Measure:An Analysis of Strengths and Limitations in The Context of SouthAfricaBy: Lauren MilneAbstract - Research in the area of domestic and international development has historically relied upon‘development indicators’ as a means to determine and rank countries with respect to levels of poverty.This thesis provides an analysis of two such indicators. Specifically, the Gender Development Index (GDI)and the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) are analyzed to assess their strengths, limitations andaccuracy in determining the wellbeing of women in relation to poverty in the context of South Africa.These indices differ in terms of their purpose. The GEM is an indicator in measuring ‘femaleagency’ (ability, independence) while the GDI focuses on human development measures. Both indicespenalize the male score accounting for gender inequality and include the estimated earned incomevariable. The analysis concludes that these indices are inaccurate and misleading as a means ofmeasuring the wellbeing of women in the context of South Africa.INTRODUCTION! In the study of International Development, various indicators have been developed in order toassess and measure levels of poverty and development. Some examples of these indicators include theGross Domestic Product per capita, the Physical Quality of Life Index and the Human DevelopmentIndex. Over the years, development indicators have been formulated to address current developmentissues, re-formulated when the indicators do not measure what was intended and abandoned altogetherwhen their application is no longer accurate or relevant." This paper discusses the strengths and limitations of two development indices the GenderEmpowerment Measure (GEM) and the Gender Development Index (GDI) with respect to the wellbeing ofwomen. More specifically, it will examine what the GEM and GDI can highlight with regard to thewellbeing of women in the context of a middle-income country. South Africa is used as a case study forthe purpose of this analysis because it is a middle income country, and recent analyses from AndySumner indicate that that, “there’s a ‘new bottom billion’ ’ – meaning three-quarters of the extreme poor,or up to a billion poor people, live not in the poorest countries but in middle-income countries. Thisraises all sorts of questions about which countries need aid, the link between aid and poverty” (Villarino,2011, para. 5). In addition, South Africa has among the best national statistics and data in Africa.! The analysis focuses on the equalities the indices reveal and its limitations. Specifically thethesis will answer the following question: What do these indices actually reveal and conceal whenapplied to the measurement of the wellbeing of women?!CONTRIBUTION TO THE STUDY OF GDI AND GEM" There is a gap in the current state of the literature with respect to the GDI and GEM and thewellbeing of women. There are general critiques on this subject but more detailed analysis about theirlimitations or inadequacies is absent from the literature. This gap will be addressed by examining whatthe GDI and GEM indicators reveal and conceal about the wellbeing of women in South Africa. Further,there has been no attempt to meaningfully understand the contextual implications of thesemeasurements within a developing country. This has critical implications regarding the utility, accuracyand relevance in the reporting of women’s wellbeing.29