The COVID-19 crisis points to female leadership as a marker for healthier and more equal societies that are more receptive to political agendas placing social and environmental wellbeing at the core of national policymaking, according to a new analysis involving Lorenzo Fioramonti from the University of Pretoria and Luca Coscieme from Trinity.
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- Countries with women in position of leadership suffered six times fewer confirmed deaths from COVID-19 than countries with governments led by men
- Female-led governments were more effective and rapid at flattening the epidemic's curve, with peaks in daily deaths roughly six times lower than in countries ruled by men
- The average numer of days with confirmed deaths was 34 in countries ruled by women and 48 in countries ruled by men
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Luca Coscieme, Marie Skodowska-Curie and Irish Research Council CAROLINE Fellow in Trinity College Dublin's School of Natural Sciences, is one of the authors of the study. He said, "Female-led governments shared similar approaches to the crisis, characterized by early consultation with national health experts and advisors, and containment measures were implemented early. On the other hand, most male-led governments downplayed initial warnings and acted with substantial delays to respond to the crisis."
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A similarly positive pattern occurred in Denmark, Norway and Finland, all ruled by women, as opposed to Sweden, ruled by a man, where economic considerations trumped health concerns, and ultimately resulted in the highest death toll per capita in Europe.
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"Over the past few years, most women-led governments have also placed a stronger emphasis on social and environmental wellbeing, investing more in public health and reducing air pollution—which seems to be closely associated with COVID-19 deaths. Our analysis shows that countries with women-led governments better deliver on Basic Human Needs, one component of the Social Progress Index, which considers aspects of basic medical care, sanitation, shelter and personal safety."
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Other key results from the analysis include the finding that countries with women leaders tend to be more equal, with, on average, a 5-point lower Gini Index of income distribution than countries with male leaders.
With regards to resilience and recovery after the crisis, the results show that women-led countries are likely to suffer the least from the ensuing economic recession: GDP growth forecasts for 2020 indicate that they will experience a decline less than 5.5%, while countries with male leaders will shrink by over 7%.
