What measure assesses the extent of gender inequality in a country?

• A. GNI (Gross National Income)
• B. GNP
• C. GDP
• D. GII (Gender Inequality Index)

Answer: (D)

The main idea is measuring gaps between men and women in key areas of society. The Gender Inequality Index is built to quantify those gaps by looking at health, empowerment, and economic participation. It combines indicators like reproductive health (maternal mortality and adolescent birth rates), empowerment (representation in parliament and education attainment for women), and economic activity (labor force participation). Because it specifically tracks differences between genders, it reveals how unequal a country is in those dimensions.

In contrast, the other measures—income or production totals—capture how much a country produces or earns overall, not how that income or opportunity is distributed between women and men. So they don’t measure gender inequality directly. That’s why the Gender Inequality Index is the measure that assesses the extent of gender inequality.