Part III:
Takeaways: Insights and Implications for Women, Governments and Organizations
Assets and the importance of equal inheritance
“For women who choose to devote themselves to their work situation, the financial and moral cost of this almost guarantees professional and familial isolation.” - Lilia Labidi, former Minister of Women’s Affairs, Tunisia This index includes indicators that examine the extent to which women are accessing financial institutions, and what the legal framework has to say about equal inheritance: the rights of married men and married women – as well as rights for sons and daughters – to inherit from their parents. There is ample evidence that links the importance of asset ownership to issues including housing security, livelihood security, emergency response and poverty reduction. When considered in the context of gender dynamics, asset ownership is arguably one of the most useful indicators of women’s economic empowerment. Asset ownership influences a women’s bargaining position, both within family units and in society at large. Moreover, the legal framework regarding inheritance and asset ownership itself is an indicator of economic empowerment, as “less legal discrimination against women is strongly associated with higher female labor force participation.” Incidentally, in the MENA region, the majority of societies do not uphold the same inheritance rights for daughters as sons and “equality of inheritance remains rare: daughters [generally] inherit only half the share of their brothers.” In examining the relationship between indicators of asset ownership, we also found a strong, positive relationship between asset ownership and women’s representation in public leadership
