A new study has found that countries led by women have experienced greater success in dealing with the coronavirus epidemic.
The study, conducted by the Center for Economic Policy Research and the World Economic Forum, looked at 194 countries and discovered that those countries with female heads of state were more likely to have imposed restrictive regulations more swiftly, including lockdowns, with the result that these countries ultimately registered only half the number of coronavirus victims as the numbers recorded in countries headed by men.
The study singled out Germany’s Angela Merkel, New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern, Denmark’s Meta Frederiksan, Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-Wen, and Finland’s Sana Marin for special mention.
Sophia Gricipati, an economist at the University of Liverpool who was one of the researchers involved in the study, stated that, “Our results show clearly that female heads of state respond more swiftly and with more determination to potential dangers to life. In almost all the countries studied, lockdowns were imposed sooner in countries headed by women. This can result in long-term economic consequences, but there is no doubt that such actions contribute to the saving of lives, as evidenced by the significantly lower mortality rates we discovered.”
The study compared not only mortality rates but also population density, GDP, annual health expenditure per capita, the proportion of elderly among the population, and levels of gender equality in society.
Gricipati noted that, “From a comprehensive analysis of the data, it emerged that female leaders took action that led to a reduction of contagion and less epidemic victims. Apparently, women heads of state are more willing to endanger the economies of their countries, in order to save lives.”