What is gender statistics?

 

Gender statistics is a field of statistics that cuts across the traditional fields to identify, produce and disseminate statistics that reflect the realities of the lives of women and men and policy issues relating to gender.

 

Gender statistics allow for a systematic study of gender differentials and gender issues. Why do we need gender statistics provides you with more information on the functions of gender statistics.

A gender issue is any issue or concern determined by gender-based and/or sex-based differences between women and men. Gender issues are all aspects and concerns with how women and men interrelate, their differences in access to and use of resources, their activities and how they react to changes, interventions and policies.

Gender issues exist in all spheres of society and are therefore relevant to the production of statistics in all fields and intervene at every step of the production process. Gender statistics are not necessarily and not only statistics disaggregated by sex.

Producing statistics that adequately reflect gender issues implies that all statistics are produced taking into consideration the different socio-economic realities women and men face in society. This means that all data - both those on individuals as well as those not directly related to individuals - are collected, compiled, and analysed, taking into consideration that gender-based factors influence women and men differently - this can be called the gender mainstreaming of statistics.

The impact on women and men needs to be considered in every step of statistical production and in all statistical fields. Concepts and methods used in data collection need to be adequately formulated to ensure that they reflect existing gender concerns and differentials. Additionally, social and cultural factors must be taken into consideration as they can result in gender-based biases in data collection, analysis, and presentation.

For more information on the stages of development of gender statistics, please see our brief history of gender statistics.