A new World Bank Group report says laws meant to help women participate fully in the economy are, on average, only half-enforced across the globe—suggesting the obstacles holding women back from jobs, entrepreneurship, and financial security are steeper than previously understood. And enforcement isn’t the only gap: even if every existing law were fully implemented, women would still have “barely two-thirds” of the legal rights of men.

The findings come from the latest Women, Business and the Law report, released in Washington on February 24, 2026. For the first time, the report measures not only what’s written in law, but whether those laws are actually enforced.

That enforcement check changes the global picture dramatically. Legal experts surveyed estimated that equal-opportunity laws for women are enforced at only about 50% on average. Meanwhile, economies have put in place fewer than half of the policies and services needed to enforce those laws. The result is a world where just 4% of women live in economies that provide nearly full legal equality—an outcome the World Bank warns is limiting growth and job creation.

“On paper, most countries are doing reasonably well: the average country scores 67 out of 100 on the adequacy of laws to enable economic equality between women and men,” said Indermit Gill, the World Bank Group’s Chief Economist and Senior Vice President for Development Economics. “But when it comes to enforcing the laws, the average score drops to 53. And when the systems needed to implement those rights are assessed, the adequacy score is just 47. These numbers reflect huge opportunity gaps— and the findings of this report provide policymakers with intelligence to reverse the decline in the growth potential of developing economies.”

What the report measures—and where it says the world is falling short

Women, Business and the Law tracks women’s economic participation across 10 areas, including safety from violence, access to childcare, entrepreneurship, employment protections, asset ownership, and retirement security.

One of the most urgent weaknesses, the report says, is safety from violence—because safety is tied directly to whether women can work consistently and move freely in public and professional life.

“True equality begins with safety. Whether at home, at work, or in public, women deserve protection to thrive,” said Norman Loayza, Director of the World Bank’s Policy Indicators Group. “Globally, we’re falling short. We have only a third of the safety laws we need, and even then, enforcement is failing 80% of the time.”

Entrepreneurship looks equal on paper—credit access does not

The report also flags entrepreneurship as a low-scoring area. In most economies, women can legally start businesses on the same terms as men. But the financing needed to make those businesses real is far from guaranteed: only about half of economies promote equal access to credit, leaving many women entrepreneurs shut out of funding.

Childcare: the missing link to work and higher-paying jobs

Childcare emerges as one of the clearest pressure points for policymakers. The report notes that affordable, reliable childcare is often one of the strongest predictors of whether parents—especially mothers—can work or move into higher-productivity jobs.

Yet fewer than half of the 190 economies covered have laws that provide financial or tax support for families. And even among economies that do, only 30% of the policies needed to support affordable, high-quality childcare services are in place. In low-income economies, the report says just 1% of childcare support mechanisms are in place.

A demographic surge is coming—and the stakes are rising

Tea Trumbic, Manager for the Women, Business and the Law project and the report’s lead author, framed the enforcement gap as a defining issue of the next decade.

“Over the next decade, 1.2 billion young people—half of them girls—will enter the workforce. Many will come of age in regions where women face the biggest barriers, and where the GDP boost that would result from their participation is most needed. Ensuring equal opportunity for women here—and everywhere—benefits societies as a whole, not just women. It’s an economic must-have, in short, not just a nice-to-have.”

Reforms are happening—especially in Africa and the Middle East

Despite the gaps between law and lived experience, the report notes that progress continues in legal reforms—particularly over the past two years.

• Over the past two years, 68 economies enacted 113 positive legal reforms across most areas of women’s economic life, with the greatest progress in entrepreneurship and safety from violence. Seven countries also expanded paternity leave to help redistribute caregiving and support women’s employment.
• Sub-Saharan Africa implemented 33 reforms over the past two years, the largest number of any region. Madagascar and Somalia lifted prohibitions on women working in sectors such as construction, manufacturing, and agriculture.
• Egypt, Jordan, and Oman made progress. Egypt was the world’s top reformer over the past two years, increasing its legal equality score by nearly 10 points. Recent reforms extended paid parental leave from 90 to 120 days for mothers and introduced one day of paid leave for fathers, mandated equal pay, and allowed requests for flexible work arrangements.

The message beneath the numbers is blunt: passing laws is only the beginning. The real measure of equality, the report argues, is whether women can rely on those rights at work, at home, in public—and in the everyday systems that determine who gets safety, credit, childcare, and a fair chance to build a life.