Progress of the world’s women
Stories of change | Fact sheets | Data insights | Social media | Previous editions
Families around the world look, feel, and live differently today. Families can be “make or break” for women and girls when it comes to achieving their rights. They can be places of love, care, and fulfillment but, too often, they are also spaces where women’s and girls’ rights are violated, their voices are stifled, and where gender inequality prevails. In today’s changing world, laws and policies need to be based on the reality of how families live.
UN Women’s flagship report, “Progress of the world’s women 2019–2020: Families in a changing world”, assesses the reality of families today in the context of sweeping economic, demographic, political, and social transformation. The report features global, regional, and national data. It also analyses key issues such as family laws, employment, unpaid care work, violence against women, and families and migration.
At a critical juncture for women’s rights, this landmark report proposes a comprehensive family-friendly policy agenda to advance gender equality in diverse families. A package of policies to deliver this agenda is affordable for most countries, according to a costing analysis included in the report. When families are places of equality and justice, economies and societies thrive and unlock the full potential of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The report shows that achieving the SDGs depends on promoting gender equality within families.
- Download the full report (6MB) (French [8.8MB], Russian [9.5MB], Spanish [8.9MB])
- Download the executive summary (2.6MB) (Arabic [3.4MB], French [2.5MB], Nepali [1.3MB], Russian [2.7MB], Spanish [2.5MB], Vietnamese [4MB])
- What will it cost to unlock the power of families?
- Press release: New UN Women report puts forth policy agenda to end gender inequalities within families
Stories of change
Brazil: The simple scheme that’s driving a quiet revolution for Brazil’s family farmers
Ghana: Accra’s female market traders blaze a trail on childcare
Indonesia: Gaining protection for Indonesia’s migrant workers and their families
Ireland: “Compassion was a key message”
Northern Africa and Western Asia: Reforming the laws that forced women to marry their rapists
Fact sheets: Global and regional insights
Find out the most relevant issues and facts on families globally and regionally. View/download the fact sheets:
- Global
- Central and Southern Asia
- Eastern and South-Eastern Asia and Oceania
- Europe, Northern America, Australia and New Zealand
- Latin America and the Caribbean
- Northern Africa and Western Asia
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- All fact sheets in a ZIP archive (1MB)
Data insights
This edition of “Progress of the world’s women” relies on a broad array of the latest available data and statistics, as of March 2019, gathered from national sources, and compiled and harmonized by international agencies. Below you will find data-driven infographics, the full set of figures and tables in the report and all annexes. See also the Women Count Data Hub to access the Progress dashboard and interact with the data found in the latest report.
Infographics:
- Chapter 1 – Women negotiating for rights in families
- Chapter 2 – Household types: Global and regional averages
- Chapter 2 – Households and families: Connected but different
- Chapter 3 – Women’s agency in marriage and partnerships
- Chapter 4 – Why women’s control over resources matters
- Chapter 5 – Balancing the responsibility for care
- Chapter 6 – Violence against women and girls
- Chapter 7 – Origin and destination of international migrants
Global data:
- Compilation of figures and tables in the report (2.5MB)
- Annex 1: Demographic trends
- Annex 2: Trends in marital status (part 1)
- Annex 2: Trends in marital status (part 2)
- Annex 3: Household composition and living arrangements (part 1)
- Annex 3: Household composition and living arrangements (part 2)
- Annex 3: Household composition and living arrangements (part 3)
- Metadata: Living arrangements of families
- Annex 4: Labour force participation rates by sex and marital status
- Annex 5: Laws and legal frameworks (part 1)
- Annex 5: Laws and legal frameworks (part 2)
- Annex 6: Violence against women and girls
- Annex 7: Migration trends
- Annex 8: Regional groupings
Social media
Use #WomensProgress2019 and #FamiliesOfToday to follow all things “Progress of the world’s women”!
Take our challenge:
Help us celebrate the diversity of families today by posting a picture of your “real-life family moment” to social media using #FamiliesOfToday. Here’s how:
Access our full social media package with visuals and messages.
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About “Progress of the world’s women”
“Progress of the world’s women” is UN Women’s periodic investigation of progress made towards a world where women live free from violence, poverty, and inequality. Provocative and insightful, this series is the product of multi-year research, in-depth analyses, and data findings that build upon the expertise of leading organizations, experts, and academics.
Previous editions:
- Progress of the world’s women 2015–2016: Transforming economies, realizing rights
- Progress of the world’s women 2011: In pursuit of justice
- Progress of the world’s women 2008/2009: Who answers to women?
- Progress of the world’s women 2005: Women, work and Poverty
- Women, war, peace: The independent experts’ assessment on the impact of armed conflict on women and women’s role in peace-building (Progress of the world’s women 2002, vol. 1)
- Progress of the world’s women 2002, volume 2: Gender equality and the Millennium Development Goals
- Progress of the world’s women 2000