Women, Business and the Law

Women, Business and the Law

Context

Released in February 2026, the 11th edition of the World Bank's Women, Business and the Law (WBL) report reveals a "shockingly large" gap between laws on paper and their actual implementation. While legal reforms are advancing, women globally still face steep barriers due to weak enforcement and a lack of supportive infrastructure like childcare and safety services.

About the Report

• What it is: An annual study measuring the enabling environment for women’s economic opportunities across 190 economies.
• The WBL 2.0 Framework: For the first time, the report benchmarks progress across three distinct pillars:
  1. Legal Frameworks: Laws as written on the books (De Jure).
  2. Supportive Frameworks: Policies, institutions, and services (e.g., childcare, hotlines) that enable the law.
  3. Enforcement Perceptions: How legal experts perceive the laws being applied in practice (De Facto).

Key Global Highlights

• The Implementation Gap: The global average score for Legal Frameworks is 67.9, but it plummets to 47.3 for Supportive Frameworks and 53.4 for Enforcement Perceptions.
• The 4% Benchmark: Only 4% of women globally live in countries that have achieved "nearly full legal equality" (scoring 90+ across all three pillars).
• Economic Stakes: Closing the gender gap in labor force participation and entrepreneurship could boost global GDP by more than 20% over the next decade.
• Safety Crisis: Safety is the lowest-scoring category globally. Only one-third of necessary safety laws exist, and even then, enforcement fails roughly 80% of the time.
• Childcare Deficit: In low-income economies, only 1% of the required childcare support mechanisms are currently in place.

Global Best Practices

• Integrated Implementation: Successful economies (e.g., Egypt, the world's top reformer this year) align legal changes with dedicated budgets and specialized gender-police units.
• Incentivizing Care: Countries providing direct subsidies for childcare and mandating paid parental leave for both parents see a significant rise in female workforce participation.
• Gender-Responsive Procurement: Nations like Viet Nam use public procurement laws to specifically support and include women-led businesses in the economy.

Challenges & Barriers

• The Motherhood Penalty: The lack of affordable childcare is a primary driver for women exiting the workforce.
• Financial Exclusion: Only half of the world's economies have laws that explicitly prohibit gender-based discrimination in financial services/credit access.
• Weak Monitoring: Most governments lack gender-disaggregated data to track whether policies like "equal pay for equal work" are actually being followed in the private sector.
• Technological & Cultural Hurdles: Even with legal rights, deep-seated social norms often prevent women from utilizing them without fear of social marginalization.

Way Ahead

• Bridge the Implementation Gap: Shift focus from passing new laws to funding the agencies and services (courts, hotlines, nurseries) needed to enforce them.
• Invest in "Care Infrastructure": Treat childcare as an economic infrastructure priority rather than a private family matter.
• Mandate Equal Credit Access: Enact and enforce laws that stop lenders from using gender as a risk factor for business loans.
• Strengthen Safety Services: Establish 24/7 legal aid and specialized protection units to ensure women can travel and work without fear.

Conclusion

The 2026 report serves as a diagnostic tool for a world in demographic and economic strain. It underscores that rights on paper are not rights in practice. To unlock the potential of the 600 million girls entering the workforce this decade, governments must invest in the "supportive framework" that transforms a legislative milestone into a lived reality.