Experts have compiled a rating of subjects of the Russian Federation on gender equality

The most favorable regions in terms of gender equality in Russia are Moscow, the Komi Republic and the Tyumen Region, with the Magadan Region, the Chechen Republic and the Kamchatka Territory at the bottom of the ranking. These are the results of a study by representatives of the “To Be Precise” project, who, based on open data, assessed the situation according to five criteria: life expectancy of men and women; wage level; time spent caring for children; participation in politics and entrepreneurship. The researchers compared the summarized data with the indicators of Iceland, which occupies a leading position in international gender equality rankings.

The research group of the “To Be Precise” project (studies social problems in Russia on the basis of open data) analyzed the level of gender equality in the regions of Russia and formed subject rating based on data from 2019–2024. Experts studied five indicators – life expectancy for men and women, wage levels, time spent caring for children, and participation in politics and entrepreneurship.

According to the UN, in 2022 Russia became the world leader in the gap in life expectancy between men and women. As Rosstat reported, this figure was 10.2 years.

However, the situation differs significantly from region to region, experts noted. Thus, the largest difference in life expectancy in 2022 was recorded in the Kurgan region (13.6 years), Udmurtia (13.1 years), Buryatia (13.1 years), Kostroma region (13 years) and Mari El (12.6 of the year). The smallest is in Ingushetia (4.2 years), Chechnya (5.7 years), Dagestan (5.8 years), Kabardino-Balkaria (7.8 years), and Moscow (7.2 years).

The press service of the Ministry of Health explained to Kommersant that regional and gender differences in life expectancy are due to “sociocultural characteristics and behavioral traditions of the population of a particular territory.”

“In the subjects with the lowest level of differences, there is also a low level of tobacco consumption and minimal consumption of alcohol, including strong alcohol. This reduces both the prevalence of risky behavior leading to excess mortality (primarily men) from external causes (injuries and poisonings), and the development of chronic non-infectious diseases associated with bad habits (oncological diseases of certain organs, cirrhosis, alcoholic cardiomyopathies and others),” – noted in the department

The gap in wages between Russians and Russian women also turned out to be significant. Thus, according to Rosstat data for 2021, the difference between the average earnings of men and women was 23.7%.

The authors of the study attribute this to the fact that women in Russia are disproportionately more likely than men to be employed in industries with low wages. The maximum difference was recorded in the Magadan region (51%), Kamchatka (45%), Krasnoyarsk (42%), Transbaikal (42%) territories and the Murmansk region (39%). The smallest difference in income is in Ingushetia (6%), the Altai Republic (8%), Kabardino-Balkaria (13%), Dagestan (13%) and Tuva (14%). “It is true that these regions have a low overall level of salaries,” note the authors of the rating.

Another analyzed indicator is the number of women in regional parliaments. According to open data for 2024, on average in Russia, only every fifth deputy in regional parliaments is a woman.

At the same time, the lowest representation of women is observed in the parliament of Chechnya (not a single woman among 41 deputies), Dagestan (5 out of 90), Ingushetia (2 out of 32), Nizhny Novgorod (4 out of 50) and Chelyabinsk regions (5 out of 60). Chukotka is the only region where the proportion of women parliamentarians prevails (8 out of 14). Serious representation of women in the parliaments of Karelia (14 out of 36), Jewish Autonomous Okrug (7 out of 19) and Khabarovsk Territory (12 out of 36).

Experts noted that in no Russian region the share of female entrepreneurs exceeds the same figure for male entrepreneurs: “On average in Russian regions, only 31% of the founders of legal entities are women.”

The smallest number was recorded in Dagestan (24.4%), Chechnya (24.7%), Magadan region (26.3%), Ingushetia (27.2%) and Mordovia (27.7%). The Chechen Republic has become an anti-leader in another indicator – only in 3% of cases women here become founders of large companies. The highest representation of women in entrepreneurship is in the Republic of Tyva (40.3%), Chukotka Autonomous Okrug (39.4%), the Republic of Buryatia (37.3%), Jewish Autonomous Okrug (35.6%) and the Republic of Khakassia (34%) .

The last indicator analyzed is the time spent caring for children (data from the latest Rosstat survey for 2019 are presented).

The researchers emphasized: in all Russian regions, men participate in family care for children less than women. On average, 75% of such responsibilities are borne by women, and only 25% by men.

The largest gap is in the Magadan region, where men accounted for 11.4% of the time spent caring for children in the family. Also, a large gap was observed in Chechnya (12%), the Altai Republic (16.7%), Sakhalin (17.9%) and Murmansk (18.6%) regions. The most even distribution of childcare responsibilities was noted in Tula (men accounted for 34.6% of the time), Tyumen (34.1%), Tver (33.9%) regions, Nenets Autonomous Okrug (32.8%) and Ulyanovsk region (32.3%).

Based on these data, the researchers compiled a ranking in terms of equality between women and men.

The five “anti-leaders” included the Magadan region, Chechnya, Kamchatka region, Smolensk region, Dagestan and Mordovia. The top best are Moscow, Komi, Tyumen region, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Tula and Volgograd regions.

“We compared the leaders of our ranking with Iceland, which ranks first in international rankings of gender equality,” the study says. “So far, none of them has achieved the same results. The “average” Russian region, when compared with Iceland, will receive approximately four points out of ten for each of the criteria. The exception is the wage gap, for which the value is slightly better.”

“The results of the rating once again prove that it is not enough to enshrine the equal rights and freedoms of men and women in the Constitution,” commented Daryana Gryaznova, legal adviser for Eurasia at the international human rights organization Equality Now, on the study.

According to her, while the indicator “women’s participation in politics” is not always representative, the number of hours women spend on unpaid work and the pay gap are a good indicator of the situation with gender inequality. “And the shorter life expectancy of men clearly demonstrates how the lack of actual equality and toxic masculinity (bad habits, neglect of health, etc.) harms everyone,” added Ms. Gryaznova.

Sociologist Alexey Firsov drew attention to the fact that the indicators used by researchers must be analyzed over time. “Researchers have correctly noted the influence of the economy on gender proportions. There are basic industries that are more associated with male or female labor. In regions dominated by industries that are stereotypically associated with male labor, such as metallurgy and raw materials, there is a skew. However, even there these indicators must be looked at in dynamics; there are practically no women in top management, but the situation is changing,” the sociologist noted.

Mr. Firsov believes that “attitudes towards gender proportions are also formed due to the traditions of power and existing cultural codes”: “In addition to Moscow, the Tyumen region was also in the top, where Sergei Sobyanin created a management tradition, and then transferred it to the capital.” The sociologist said that the overall situation with gender inequality in Russia is still gradually improving.

The head of the Duma Committee on Family Protection, Issues of Paternity, Maternity and Childhood Nina Ostanina (Communist Party of the Russian Federation) told Kommersant that the demonstrated difference between regions in gender equality is “the result of the lack of a unified state policy on the protection of family, motherhood and childhood.” “In fact, the state only participates in the payment of maternity capital and a single benefit, the rest depends on the “thickness of the wallet” of the subject. If we want to avoid these gender gaps in terms of guaranteeing women’s rights, we need to ensure a single social space,” the parliamentarian believes.

At the same time, Mrs. Ostanina calls higher salaries for men working in professions that are limited for women due to their danger the norm: “The question is different: when men receive more for the same work than women, this is unacceptable. Or insurance pensions for men are 5% higher than for women, which is also unacceptable.”

Emilia Gabdullina, Natalya Kostarnova, Ilona Kalinich