placestats

Birth registration vs. Women in management

Holds up after adjusting for income

Across 140 countries, Birth registration and Women in management rise and fall together at r = +0.33 (on a scale from −1 to +1, where 0 means no link). It holds up almost unchanged when only countries with similar income (GDP per person) are compared (r = +0.21, q = 0.045, allowing for the many pairs tested). Caution: direction is not consistent across regions.

Comparing countries across the middle half of women in management, 25.6% to 39.8% of managers, birth registration is better by 9.54% of children under 5 at the top of that range than the bottom. Comparing only countries with similar national income, the gap is 4.68% of children under 5.

Link before adjusting (r)+0.327p = 8.1e-5 · 140 countries
After adjusting for national income+0.209p = 0.014 · likely range [+0.04, +0.36]
p, allowing for regions0.095standard error 0.105 · 7 regions
Check for luck (q)0.045across 12,497 pairs

How to read these.r runs from −1 (one goes up as the other goes down) to +1 (they rise together), and 0 means no link. Adjusting for national income means comparing countries with the same GDP per person, so differences in wealth can’t explain the link. Income is used in percentage terms, since an extra $1,000 means more to a poor country than to a rich one. p is how likely a link this strong would be if there were really none. Below 0.05 means it is unlikely to be chance. Very small values are written in short form: 1.1e-32 means a decimal point followed by 31 zeros and then 11, so very close to zero. The likely range is where the true figure probably lies, and a range that crosses zero means the link could easily be chance. Countries in the same region tend to resemble each other, so the third figure allows for that, which gives a fairer p. The standard error is the typical size of the error in r. Finally, testing this many pairs means some will look strong by luck alone. A q below 0.05 means this link is unlikely to be one of those.

Birth registration · % of children under 5link with income +0.87 · proxy
Women in management · % of managerslink with income +0.30 · moderate

“Link with income” is how closely each measure tracks GDP per person across countries, from −1 to +1.

Every country as a dot

Birth registration · % of children under 5 →Women in management · % of managers →2.7%100%5.89%71%Afghanistan: 42.3% of children under 5, 5.89% of managersAngola: 25% of children under 5, 16.2% of managersAlbania: 98.4% of children under 5, 33.4% of managersUnited Arab Emirates: 100% of children under 5, 23.5% of managersArgentina: 99.7% of children under 5, 34.1% of managersArmenia: 99.3% of children under 5, 31.9% of managersAustralia: 100% of children under 5, 39.4% of managersAustria: 100% of children under 5, 36.3% of managersBurundi: 83.5% of children under 5, 25.7% of managersBelgium: 100% of children under 5, 33.1% of managersBenin: 85.6% of children under 5, 23.5% of managersBurkina Faso: 76.9% of children under 5, 25.9% of managersBangladesh: 56% of children under 5, 7.23% of managersBulgaria: 100% of children under 5, 39.1% of managersBelarus: 100% of children under 5, 42% of managersBelize: 95.7% of children under 5, 41.7% of managersBolivia: 91.9% of children under 5, 22.3% of managersBrazil: 96.4% of children under 5, 38.7% of managersBarbados: 98.7% of children under 5, 50.4% of managersBrunei Darussalam: 99.9% of children under 5, 36.4% of managersBhutan: 99.9% of children under 5, 15.5% of managersBotswana: 87.5% of children under 5, 48.2% of managersSwitzerland: 100% of children under 5, 33.3% of managersChile: 99.4% of children under 5, 31.6% of managersCote d'Ivoire: 71.7% of children under 5, 22.2% of managersCongo, Dem. Rep.: 40.1% of children under 5, 29.6% of managersColombia: 96.8% of children under 5, 41.9% of managersCosta Rica: 99.6% of children under 5, 46.2% of managersCyprus: 100% of children under 5, 27.5% of managersCzechia: 100% of children under 5, 26.9% of managersGermany: 100% of children under 5, 27.7% of managersDenmark: 100% of children under 5, 26.9% of managersDominican Republic: 92.2% of children under 5, 47.8% of managersEcuador: 87.2% of children under 5, 45.3% of managersEgypt, Arab Rep.: 99.4% of children under 5, 22.3% of managersSpain: 100% of children under 5, 37% of managersEstonia: 100% of children under 5, 36% of managersEthiopia: 2.7% of children under 5, 27% of managersFinland: 100% of children under 5, 39.2% of managersFiji: 86.6% of children under 5, 34.9% of managersFrance: 100% of children under 5, 38.7% of managersGabon: 89.6% of children under 5, 19.2% of managersUnited Kingdom: 100% of children under 5, 40.5% of managersGeorgia: 98.5% of children under 5, 37.5% of managersGhana: 70.6% of children under 5, 26.6% of managersGambia, The: 59% of children under 5, 28.1% of managersGuinea-Bissau: 46% of children under 5, 25.6% of managersGreece: 100% of children under 5, 35% of managersGuatemala: 96.4% of children under 5, 39.8% of managersGuyana: 98.1% of children under 5, 42.1% of managersHonduras: 97% of children under 5, 46% of managersCroatia: 100% of children under 5, 25.5% of managersHungary: 100% of children under 5, 42.1% of managersIndonesia: 77% of children under 5, 24.8% of managersIndia: 89.1% of children under 5, 11.9% of managersIreland: 100% of children under 5, 37.8% of managersIran, Islamic Rep.: 98.6% of children under 5, 21.4% of managersIraq: 98.8% of children under 5, 17.5% of managersIceland: 100% of children under 5, 37.3% of managersIsrael: 100% of children under 5, 32.8% of managersItaly: 100% of children under 5, 25.3% of managersJamaica: 98% of children under 5, 63.9% of managersJordan: 98% of children under 5, 52.3% of managersJapan: 100% of children under 5, 14.5% of managersKenya: 66.9% of children under 5, 43.6% of managersKyrgyz Republic: 98.9% of children under 5, 32.8% of managersCambodia: 73.3% of children under 5, 23.6% of managersKiribati: 91.6% of children under 5, 37.4% of managersLao PDR: 73% of children under 5, 25.7% of managersLebanon: 98.9% of children under 5, 28.9% of managersLiberia: 66.3% of children under 5, 26.1% of managersLesotho: 44.5% of children under 5, 32.9% of managersLithuania: 100% of children under 5, 37.4% of managersLuxembourg: 100% of children under 5, 26.9% of managersLatvia: 100% of children under 5, 44% of managersMadagascar: 73.8% of children under 5, 28.6% of managersMaldives: 98.8% of children under 5, 22.6% of managersMexico: 97% of children under 5, 39.3% of managersMarshall Islands: 83.8% of children under 5, 32.7% of managersNorth Macedonia: 99.8% of children under 5, 36.4% of managersMali: 86.7% of children under 5, 9.01% of managersMalta: 100% of children under 5, 22.7% of managersMyanmar: 81.3% of children under 5, 41% of managersMontenegro: 99.4% of children under 5, 48.1% of managersMongolia: 99.6% of children under 5, 40.5% of managersMozambique: 55% of children under 5, 29.1% of managersMalawi: 67.2% of children under 5, 47.7% of managersNamibia: 78.1% of children under 5, 48.2% of managersNiger: 63.9% of children under 5, 21.6% of managersNigeria: 42.6% of children under 5, 37.9% of managersNicaragua: 84.7% of children under 5, 53.7% of managersNetherlands: 100% of children under 5, 28.5% of managersNorway: 100% of children under 5, 30.8% of managersNepal: 77.2% of children under 5, 13.9% of managersNaoero: 95.9% of children under 5, 56.7% of managersPakistan: 42.2% of children under 5, 9.57% of managersPanama: 96.7% of children under 5, 50% of managersPeru: 96.4% of children under 5, 32.9% of managersPhilippines: 91.8% of children under 5, 43.2% of managersPapua New Guinea: 13.4% of children under 5, 17.7% of managersPoland: 100% of children under 5, 40.6% of managersPortugal: 100% of children under 5, 39.4% of managersWest Bank and Gaza: 99.2% of children under 5, 23.5% of managersRomania: 100% of children under 5, 34.7% of managersRussian Federation: 100% of children under 5, 41.7% of managersRwanda: 85.6% of children under 5, 30.8% of managersSudan: 67.3% of children under 5, 13.1% of managersSenegal: 78.7% of children under 5, 23% of managersSingapore: 99.9% of children under 5, 39.9% of managersSolomon Islands: 88% of children under 5, 25.1% of managersSierra Leone: 90.4% of children under 5, 22.6% of managersEl Salvador: 91.2% of children under 5, 39% of managersSomalia, Fed. Rep.: 5.9% of children under 5, 27.7% of managersSerbia: 99.9% of children under 5, 31.9% of managersSao Tome and Principe: 98.6% of children under 5, 71% of managersSuriname: 98.3% of children under 5, 42.2% of managersSlovak Republic: 100% of children under 5, 34.1% of managersSlovenia: 100% of children under 5, 34.9% of managersSweden: 100% of children under 5, 44.7% of managersEswatini: 53.5% of children under 5, 25.2% of managersTogo: 82.9% of children under 5, 29.5% of managersThailand: 99.8% of children under 5, 34.5% of managersTajikistan: 95.8% of children under 5, 24.5% of managersTimor-Leste: 60.4% of children under 5, 22.4% of managersTonga: 97.7% of children under 5, 36.9% of managersTrinidad and Tobago: 96.5% of children under 5, 52.7% of managersTunisia: 99.9% of children under 5, 20.8% of managersTurkiye: 98.4% of children under 5, 21.5% of managersTuvalu: 87.2% of children under 5, 36.1% of managersTanzania: 26.4% of children under 5, 29.7% of managersUganda: 32.2% of children under 5, 25.6% of managersUkraine: 99.8% of children under 5, 44.1% of managersUruguay: 99.8% of children under 5, 33.8% of managersUnited States: 100% of children under 5, 44.1% of managersViet Nam: 96.1% of children under 5, 26.1% of managersVanuatu: 43.4% of children under 5, 37.9% of managersSamoa: 66.9% of children under 5, 40.7% of managersSouth Africa: 88.6% of children under 5, 39.3% of managersZambia: 14% of children under 5, 29.6% of managersZimbabwe: 48.7% of children under 5, 34.4% of managersAFGBTNETHJAMJPNMLINRUPNGSOMSTP

best-fit line line after adjusting

Four ways to measure the link

MethodrpCountries
Standard (Pearson), not adjusted+0.3278.1e-5140
By rank (Spearman), not adjusted+0.2550.002140
Standard (Pearson), adjusted for national income+0.2090.014140
By rank (Spearman), adjusted for national income+0.0020.982140

The rank version uses only each country’s place in line, from lowest to highest, so a few extreme countries count for less. The adjusted and unadjusted versions use the same 140 countries: those that report both measures and GDP per person. So the gap between them comes from the adjustment, not from a change in which countries are counted. Drop in the size of r after adjusting: +0.118 (a minus sign means it grew).

How solid is it?

Leaving out one country at a time, r ranges from +0.177 (without STP) to +0.231 (without MLI). The bar above shows that range on a scale from −1 to +1, with the solid line at the full result. The single country that moves r most: STP (-0.031).

Fragile: this link may not hold up.
  • direction is not consistent across regions

Within each region

Countries are not separate, unrelated cases, and neighbors share a lot. A link that holds inside each region is far more believable than one that shows up only when comparing regions.

nr
East Asia & Pacific23+0.37
Europe & Central Asia42+0.46
Latin America & Caribbean22-0.09
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan12+0.54
Sub-Saharan Africa35+0.14

By income third

If the link shows up only in the richest third of countries, it is a feature of rich countries, not a general pattern.

nr
Poorest third47+0.18
Middle third46+0.23
Richest third47-0.35

By largest religious group

Countries grouped by a label they share, such as main religion, rather than by a number. Groups of fewer than twelve countries are not shown. These groups differ in income, region and history all at once. So a gap between them is a place to start asking questions, not an answer.

nr
Christians93+0.38
Muslims29+0.07

By last european coloniser

Countries grouped by a label they share, such as main religion, rather than by a number. Groups of fewer than twelve countries are not shown. These groups differ in income, region and history all at once. So a gap between them is a place to start asking questions, not an answer.

nr
France14-0.06
Never a European colony13+0.17
Spain16-0.37
United Kingdom46+0.23

Without outliers (countries far outside the middle half of countries on either measure, by more than one and a half times the width of that middle half): r = +0.116 after dropping 16 countries.

Two series, one country

Both measures over the years for one country you pick. The two charts are stacked so they share only the years along the bottom.

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Over time, within countries

Everything above compares countries with each other at one moment. This section compares each country only with itself over 0years. So a link here can’t come from anything about a country that stays the same, such as its history, geography, institutions or culture.

Not enough history inside each country to look at this over time. That needs countries measured for several years in a row, and at least one of these measures is measured too rarely.

The data


% of children under 5
% of managers		Years
United States USA100%44.1%2022, 2025
Sweden SWE100%44.7%2022, 2024
Slovenia SVN100%34.9%2022, 2024
Slovak Republic SVK100%34.1%2020, 2023
Russian Federation RUS100%41.7%2022, 2025
Romania ROU100%34.7%2020, 2024
Portugal PRT100%39.4%2020, 2025
Poland POL100%40.6%2017, 2025
Norway NOR100%30.8%2022, 2024
Netherlands NLD100%28.5%2022, 2024
Malta MLT100%22.7%2022, 2010
Latvia LVA100%44%2022, 2024
Luxembourg LUX100%26.9%2022, 2024
Lithuania LTU100%37.4%2020, 2024
Japan JPN100%14.5%2022, 2023

World Bank, World Development Indicators
World Bank, World Development Indicators

Sources

Birth registration

Completeness of birth registration (%)

UNICEF · CC BY 4.0 · updated quarterly

A measure of how far the state reaches: whether it knows a child exists. Based on surveys and sparse. It is near 100 across the rich world, so all the variation is at the other end.

Women in management

Female share of employment in senior and middle management (%)

International Labour Organization · CC BY 4.0 · updated quarterly

Based on surveys and reported irregularly.

How this was computed

Data used: most recent value in 2010-2025; values come from 2010–2025. To adjust for income, each measure is first predicted from GDP per person (in percentage terms, on a log scale) with a straight-line fit. Only what is left over is then compared. This is called a partial correlation. The line is drawn the standard way (ordinary least squares), which picks the line that comes closest to all the countries at once. The error margins allow for countries in the same region resembling each other, using 7 World Bank regions. The q-value corrects for testing all 12,497 pairs at once, using the Benjamini–Hochberg method. Underlying data last updated DYB 2024. How the country data works · explore Birth registration and Women in management

This page shows that two measures go together. It does not show that Birth registration changes Women in management, or the reverse. These figures also describe countries, not individual people. See the ecological fallacy.

More links with Birth registration or Women in management