Boys and Girls in the Life Cycle:Sex-disaggregated data on a selection of well-being indicators, from early childhood to young adulthood

This report presents the most comprehensive compilation to date of sex-disaggregated statistics on children and young people in the developing world. It examines a selection of indicators that are currently available to measure well-being and assess children’s rights. During the past decade, an unprecedented amount of internationally comparable household survey data has become available for a broad range of indicators covering many countries. This wealth of new information has been analyzed to provide global, regional and country estimates on a wide variety of
issues. By presenting sex-disaggregated data across the main stages of childhood and adolescence, an evidence-based assessment of gender differentials is offered, which may help to inform future policies and programmes. The data indicate that important gender imbalances exist in the population structure in some countries, particularly in parts of Asia, resulting in a higher deficit of girls than normal.