For over 15 years, Women, Business and the Law has been measuring the enabling environment for women’s economic opportunity in 190 economies.
Since 2024, Women, Business and the Law has been analyzing de jure laws “on the books”, and also the existence of policy and institutional frameworks supporting the de facto implementation of the law and gauging experts’ perceptions of how effectively the law is enforced in practice for women. Following this model, Women, Business and the Law measures three pillars: legal frameworks, supportive frameworks, and enforcement perceptions. The WBL team has started data collection for the WBL 2026 report through three questionnaires covering family law and access to finance, labor law and childcare services, and violence against women legislation, assessing legal frameworks, implementation mechanisms, and enforcement perceptions.
For detailed information on the methodology, refer to Women, Business and the Law Methodology Handbook. Visit our Frequently Asked Questions for more information and click here for data revisions.
Data and methodology for WBL 1.0, used prior to 2024, is still available for interested researchers. The WBL 1.0 index is available for the period from 1971 to 2024 (calendar years 1970 to 2023). Thirty-five aspects of the law are scored across eight indicators of four or five binary questions. Indicator-level scores are obtained by calculating the unweighted average of the questions within that indicator and scaling the result to 100. Overall scores are then calculated by taking the average of each indicator, with 100 representing the highest possible score. Detailed WBL 1.0 methodology is listed below, and in the WBL 1.0 Data Notes.