Globally, women are significantly more worried about economic inequality than men according to a report from the World Bank Group set to show how the opinion leaders perceive the growing gap between the rich and the poor.
According to the report, 60 percent of female respondents’ verses 57 percent of male respondents believed that the income gap is “a very big problem.”
At a country level, for instance, in Uzbekistan, where people mostly reported unconcerned about inequality, women were almost five times more likely (23 percent) than men (5 percent) to say that the gap between the rich and the poor is a very severe issue.
According to the United Nations, income inequality cannot be effectively tackled unless the underlying inequality of opportunities is addressed. Previous research has also suggested that high levels of inequality can limit the effectiveness of growth in reducing poverty.
How important a role do the opinion leaders believe equality of opportunity plays in reducing poverty?
The survey findings indicate that 13 percent of the respondents globally picked equality of opportunity as a top contributor to poverty reduction among thirty different development areas.
Compared to men (12 percent), women (16 percent) were significantly more likely to see equality of opportunity as critical to reducing poverty.
Income inequality has risen in most of the developed world and many developing countries
The survey interviewed more than 10,000 key opinion leaders in fifty-two developing countries to find out how concerned they are about income inequality, and whether they perceived a link between equality of opportunity and poverty reduction.
While a median of 55 percent worldwide said that the income gap is “a very big problem,” opinion leaders in Latin American countries are most concerned about the problem (with a median of 66 percent).