The World Economic Forum – “Gender parity is fundamental to whether and how economies and societies thrive. Ensuring the full development and appropriate deployment of half of the world’s total talent pool has a vast bearing on the growth, competitiveness and future-readiness of economies and businesses worldwide. The Global Gender Gap Report 2017 benchmarks 144 countries on their progress towards gender parity across four thematic dimensions: Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment. In addition, this year’s edition also analyses the dynamics of gender gaps across industry talent pools and occupations.”

• “The U.S. falls four places to 49 … (out of 144 countries). In 2006, it ranked 23.”
• “The U.S.’s greatest weakness is in [the] Political Empowerment pillar, where it falls from 77 in 2016 to 96 on the generally low number of women in [top government] positions … lowest level since 2007.”