In one wonderful 9 minute TED talk, Swedish professor Hans Rosling connects the washing machine to empowering women, educating children and diminishing world poverty.

The Economic Lesson

When women are empowered, not only is the gender gap diminished but also the health and education of the household increases. 

In a Teaching Company lecture, about women and the global economy (lecture #31), Professor Timothy Taylor starts with explaining the world’s missing 100 million women; then he focuses on the importance of women being educated, of women having political power, and of women controlling household income.  

You might also want to look at a brief IMF paper called “Smart Economics,” in which the authors conclude that “…giving women more access to education, to markets (labor, land, credit) and to new technology, and giving them greater control over household resources often translates into greater well-being for themselves and their families.”

And finally, if you want lots of data, I recommend this 334 page, 2010 World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report. Ranking the gender gap for 134 nations, the report has Iceland with the smallest gap, the U.S. at #19, and Yemen last, at #134.