Luxembourg

Luxembourg is a landlocked country in central Europe sharing borders with Germany, France, and Belgium. It has long been involved in international trade cooperation, beginning with the Benelux Customs Union in 1948 (with Belgium and the Netherlands) and was a founding member of the European Economic Community. The population of about half a million is primarily Roman Catholic (87 percent). Luxembourg has a stable and diversified economy and in 2009 had a per capita Gross Domestic Product of $77,660, the third highest in the world. Much of the labor force is foreign or cross-border workers from neighboring European countries, and Luxembourg has one of the highest net migration rates in the world at 8.44 per 1,000 population.

The World Economic Forum ranks Luxembourg in the middle third of countries on gender equality. On a scale from 0 (inequality) to 1 (perfect equality) Luxembourg in 2009 achieved an overall score of 0.689 (63rd out of 134 countries). The country received scores of 1.00 for educational attainment (tied for highest in the world), .973 for health and survival (80th), 0.638 for economic participation and opportunity (73rd), and 0.144 for political empowerment (57th).

[Page 869]Literacy stands at 100 percent for both men and women in Luxembourg, and women are more likely than men to be enrolled in tertiary education. About 60 percent of women in Luxembourg are in the labor force, versus 75 percent of men, and women constitute 43 percent of the nonagricultural labor force. Women earn about 70 percent of what men do for the same work and overall earn about 55 percent of what men do. As of 2009, women held a third of the seats in Luxembourg's Parliament and 17 percent of government ministry positions. Luxembourg provides excellent maternal and childcare and services, and all births are attended by trained staff. Infant mortality is extremely low at 3 per 1,000 live births as is maternal mortality, at 12 per 100,000 live births. Mothers are entitled to 16 weeks of maternity leave at 100 percent of their wages. Save the Children ranked Luxembourg 9th among 43 Tier I or more developed countries on its Children's Index, 28th on its Mothers’ Index, and 34th on its Women's Index.