The Patriarchy Index for Asia: Advancing Subnational Gender Inequality Measurement

Gender inequality remains a persistent barrier to development across Asia, yet its domestic foundations—particularly within family systems—are often overlooked by global metrics. This study introduces the Patriarchy Index (PI), a census-based tool designed to capture gendered power hierarchies within households across 22 Asian and North African countries and 652 subnational units.The PI offers a scalable, low-cost diagnostic for regions where conventional gender measures are absent or fail to reflect private-sphere constraints on women’s autonomy. Drawing on harmonized IPUMS-I microdata and eleven theoretically grounded indicators—including co-residence patterns, marriage timing, and age-based authority—the PI constructs a multidimensional index validated through convergence with existing gender metrics, divergence from unrelated indicators, and correlation with development outcomes.Findings reveal that family-based patriarchy is spatially clustered and highly variable at the subnational level. Crucially, higher PI scores are significantly associated with lower female labor force participation, even after controlling for structural factors like income and urbanization.By illuminating household-level dynamics, the PI fills critical gaps left by public-facing indicators and legal benchmarks. It enables policymakers to identify entrenched domestic constraints and design interventions that complement legal reforms—advancing a more comprehensive strategy for promoting women’s autonomy in diverse sociocultural contexts.