50 YEARS OF WOMEN’S LEGAL RIGHTS

WOMEN LAND AND THE LAW: MAKING LEGAL RIGHTS COUNT

26TH MARCH, 2014

Tazeen Hasan Mary Hallward-Driemeier

PRMGE, World Bank Development Research Department

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Challenges – inadequate land rights

Vulnerability – Shelter, Food And Income

Access To Finance (Collateral) For Female Entrepreneurs

Weak Land Rights Can Undermine Female Labor Force Participation and Productivity

Challenges have roots in the legal system – what women’s rights are, how they are enforced and how the broader regulatory system works.

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50 YEARS OF WOMEN’S LEGAL RIGHTS

TRACKED LEGAL REFORMS IN PROPERTY RIGHTS IN 100 COUNTRIES OVER THE PAST 50 YEARS

WORKED WITH WOMEN BUSINESS AND THE LAW

DATA AVAILABLE ON http://wbl.worldbank.org/data/timeseries

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FAMILY LAWS Constraints can trigger on marriage Head of Household Permission to initiate legal proceedings or register land e.g. Democratic Republic of Congo Marital Regimes Division of marital property during and on divorce or death of husband Control of marital assets

INHERITANCE LAWS Unequal inheritance rights for girls and women Division of estate on death of husband – widow left with nothing or next to nothing Interplay of customary and religious laws – plural legal systems e.g. Women in Iran were not entitled to inherit land until reforms of inheritance laws in

the 1990’s Exemption of customary land from statutory laws on inheritance e.g. Ghana

LAND LAWS Joint titling - is it mandatory?

WHERE ARE DISCRIMINATORY LAWS FOUND

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BAD LAWS ARE IMPLEMENTED

Mme Ngetsi, DRC

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IMPLICATIONS FOR LAND TITLING COMMUNITY OF PROPERTY REGIMES PRESUMPTION OF JOINT TITLING DURING MARRIAGE WIDOW ENTITLED TO 50% OF JOINT ESTATE ON DEATH OF

HUSBAND

SEPARATE PROPERTY REGIMES AND DEFERRED PROPERTY REGIMES

PRESUMPTION OF SEPARATE TITLING DURING AND END OF MARRIAGE UNLESS SPECIFIC LEGISLATION MANDATING JOINT TITLING AND RECOGNITION OF NON-MONETARY CONTRIBUTION

FOR DEFERRED PROPERTY REGIMES PRESUMPTION OF SEPARATE TITLING DURING MARRIAGE

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PRESUMPTION OF JOINT TITLING

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MARRIED WOMEN’S RIGHTS TO IMMOVEABLE PROPERTY 1960

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MARRIED WOMEN’S RIGHTS TO IMMOVEABLE PROPERTY 2010

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Strong geographic patterns on where women’s rights have been strengthened…

Percentage of actual constraints on the books out of maximum potential number of constraints

Hallward-Driemeier, Hasan and Iqbal, 2013

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1960/Initial 2010

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IMPLEMENTATION OF LAWS IS ESSENTIAL

Linking Marriage And Land Registries Improving Implementation (photos, space on forms,

gender training for land officials) State Incentives Reduction Of Stamp Duty/Property Taxes for Inclusion Of

Women on Land titles Awareness Building Benefits Of Formalising Marriages And Civil Unions, Choosing

Good Marital Regime, Joint Titling And Will-writing – venues such as marriage registries, health clinics and schools

Access to and Participation in Justice system e.g. provision of legal services, reduced legal fees

Dissemination Of Positive Laws And Cases

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FINALLY, DATA IS IMPORTANT

Centralize Existing Gender Data In Titling Projects and Gender Assessments And Systemize Data Collection in new Projects

Gender Disaggregated Land Data Helps To Identify Gaps And Formulate Policy

July 2013 Jordan Country Gender Assessment shows that joint titling for women is only 12% for land and 7% for apartments. Female land owners total 17% in 2012

Data Can Help To Link Legal Reform To Positive Economic Outcomes For Women

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In 2010, the average number of gender gaps in countries’ constitutions and statutes is the same for middle income countries as low income countries.

In panel regressions, growth has no significant effects on reforms Controlling for time-invariant country characteristics, time trend and

allowing various growth specifications (lagged 3, 5 or 10 years) Rising incomes has helped simulate reform efforts in lower income countries

in recent decades, but not in middle income countries.

WHAT PREDICTS REFORMS?LITTLE ROLE FOR INCOME OR GROWTH

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WHAT PREDICTS REFORMS?CEDAW HAS BEEN A CATALYST

15 years before CEDAW ratification

5 years before CEDAW ratification

5 years after CEDAW ratification

1. Income and growth are not good predictors of reforms2. Post-conflict times offer an opportunity- that is too

often not taken3. Countries are significantly more likely to introduce

reforms in the 5 years after ratifying CEDAW than in the preceding years.

Ratifying CEDAW is itself an indication of changing attitudes to gender – where international pressure was effect at bringing change

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WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF LEGAL REFORMS?

A. Do patterns of women’s entrepreneurship differ in countries with more or less legal rights for women?

B. Do reforms that close gender gaps in legal rights lead to improved economic outcomes over time in the same country?

Study 1: Panel data across 100 countries over 50 years

Study 2: Study impact of reform in a single country

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UNDERSTAND THE CONTEXT: WHERE DO WOMEN WORK?

Women’s share in non-agricultural employment averages 38 percent – across income levels.

Differences in level of development may underlie women’s share in self-employment and wage work – but not in women’s share of employers

Women are on average 26% of employers across levels of development – significantly below women’s labor force participation rates.

Source: Hallward-Driemeieret al. (2011)

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EQUALITY PROMOTES WOMEN AS EMPLOYERS

The gap between the share of men and share of women who are employers is 30 percent lower when there are fewer gender gaps in economic rights

Patterns are similar regardless of the level of income

Low income Middle income0

25

50

75

100

125Large gaps in women's economic rightsNo or small gaps in women's economic rights

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Source: Hallward-Driemeier and Hasan, 2013, Empowering Women: Legal Rights and Economic Opportunities.

The share of employers who are female did not vary on average with income – and the prevalence of gender gaps in laws also does not vary with income. But, the share of female employers DOES vary with stronger legal rights.

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IMPACT OF REFORMS ON EMPLOYMENT

The impact of reforms is greater for MICs than LICs

Women’s labor force participation rises with stronger property rightsAs does women’s share in non-agricultural work, wage work, and being an employer

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IMPACT OF REFORMS ON EDUCATION, HEALTH AND EMPOWERMENT

Education Effects generally larger for primary education, particularly in lower

income countries At 25th percentile of income, giving sons and daughters equal

inheritance rights raises the ratio of girls to boys in primary education 6.4 percentage points

For tertiary education, effects are stronger in higher income countries

Health and empowerment Age of first marriage – rises with reforms to property rights, legal

capacity and protections of non-discrimination Infant mortality declines with equal inheritance rights, particularly in

lower income countries Maternal mortality declines with equal legal capacity

Recognizing women as the head of household is associated with a decline of 9.3 deaths per 1000 live births

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IMPACT OF ETHIOPIA’S NEW FAMILY LAW ON WOMEN’S OCCUPATIONAL CHOICES

Percent difference between single women in reformed and non-reformed areas

Source: Hallward-Driemeier and Gajigo, 2013.

Controlling for time, location and sector effects.

Effects are larger for younger and single women

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CLOSING GENDER GAPS IN PROPERTY RIGHTS EXPAND’S WOMEN’S OPPORTUNITIES

There is evidence across countries and over time within countries that closing gender gaps in key rights is associated with improved outcomes in employment, health and education Effects are strongest for girls and young women Inheritance rights, particularly of girls, removing the ability to

deny work outside the home and equal rights to marital property have the strongest impacts

Effects on outcomes often stronger where rule of law is stronger; a particular legal change cannot substitute for a legal system that is weak

It is important to keep pressing this agenda Legal reforms are clearly not sufficient; need enforcement too

and broader shifts in norms And some concern that remaining gaps will be hardest to

close