Ensuring the participation and representation of all groups of society in public decision making allows for different perspectives to be included, helping ensure that public policies and services reflect the distinct needs and realities of women and men of diverse backgrounds (OECD, 2020). Achieving gender equality in politics is not just about counting the numbers of women in parliament and ministerial positions, but also making sure that women, in diverse situations and conditions, have the opportunity to influence policies in a positive way (OECD, forthcoming). However, although gender-balanced representation is not just a matter of numbers, collecting and publishing gender-disaggregated data is a crucial step towards recognizing gender imbalances and disparities, and creating policies that actively foster inclusivity.
Over the past decade, the share of women parliamentarians, increased by 7.5 percentage points on average across OECD countries (Figure 12.5). As of 2023, the share of women sitting in lower or single house parliaments across the OECD area stood at an average of 33.8%, indicating that gender-balanced representation in parliaments is far from being reached. Only two OECD countries, Mexico and New Zealand, had gender parity in their parliaments as of 2023. Over the past decade, Chile has seen the greatest increase (21.3 p.p.) in the share of female parliamentarians, followed by New Zealand (17.8 p.p.), Colombia (16.8 p.p.), and Australia (13.7 p.p.).
In order to improve women’s representation in parliaments, OECD countries report taking measures such as introducing mandatory quotas and voluntary targets, mentorships, networking and capacity-building actions for women, and measures to make parliaments more female-friendly workplace (OECD, 2022). Most OECD countries have introduced electoral quotas, which remains a widely used measure for promoting gender equality in parliaments (Figure 12.5). However, it is important to combine electoral quotas with other mechanisms to support gender equality more broadly in case of countries where electoral quotas are introduced.
A gender-balanced cabinet is a strong indicator of a government’s commitment to gender equality and ensuring a gender lens is applied in crucial government decisions. As of 2023, on average, women occupied 35.7% of cabinet positions across OECD countries, albeit with considerable variations across countries (Figure 12.6). In 2023, 8 out of 38 OECD countries have 50% or more women in their political executive: Belgium, Chile, Colombia, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain. In contrast, less than 10% of cabinet ministers in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Japan, and Türkiye are women. Women continue to primarily hold portfolios related to social and cultural policy – most commonly those on women and gender equality, family and children’s affairs, social inclusion and development, social protection and social security, and indigenous and minority affairs – rather than to those related to energy, defence and home affairs, which are dominated by men (IPU/UN WOMEN, 2023). Achieving gender equality in cabinets, therefore, also pertains to the allocation of portfolios.
