No. 22 in gender equality

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MARK AUSTIN THOMAS: When it comes to economic and gender equality the U.S. ranks 22nd out of 155 nations. That word from the Geneva-based World Economic Forum. Steve Tripoli has the story.

STEVE TRIPOLI: Here’s the U.S. report card from the study’s co-author Saadia Zahidi:

SAADIA ZAHIDI: It does extremely well in terms of health and education but is held back mainly because of its scores on political empowerment and on economic participation and opportunity.

The specific economic problems are a 37th-place finish in wage inequality and 31st place in overall income. The political problem is a lack of women in high office, good for 66th place.

ZAHIDI: Our report does provide evidence for the fact that the glass ceiling continues to hold back women.

If you’re wondering who’s on top well, it’s nice to be Nordic. The top four slots all went to Scandinavian countries.

But even first-place Sweden has only 81 percent of its gender gap closed.

I’m Steve Tripoli for Marketplace.