For this reason, a range of indicators are selected that capture gender inequality at different stages of the life cycle. Lastly, the chapter focuses on the indicators that have been shown to matter for the overall development of the societies (e.g. World Bank, 2011). For this reason, not all key issues that affect women’s well-being and are included in contemporary gender inequality indices could be covered. It was not possible, for instance, to include measures such as income or access to high-paying jobs, which are crucial factors for the economic standing of women (Kabeer, 1999).6 What is lost in comparability with present-day indices, however, is made up for in the long-term perspective.7 Despite constraints in data availability, there are theoretical and methodological criteria behind the choice of the gender equality variables employed.