Members:

Indicator 16.7.1(a) aims to compare the proportion of various demographic groups (by sex and age) represented in national parliaments, relative to the proportion of these same groups in the national population above the age of eligibility.

To report on indicator 16.7.1(a), two ratios must be calculated, namely:

For ‘young’ MPs (aged 45 and below)
For female MPs

When comparing ratios of ‘young’ MPs and female MPs with corresponding shares of the national population that is aged 45 and below (for the first ratio) and female (for the second ratio), it is important to consider the population of, or above, the age of eligibility, the latter being, by definition, the lowest possible age of members of parliament. In other words, if the age of eligibility in a given country is 18 years old, the national population to be used as a comparator for the first ratio (for ‘young’ MPs) will be the national population aged 18-45 (not 0-45), and for the second ratio (for female MPs), the female population aged 18 and above.

To calculate the ratio for ‘young’ MPs (aged 45 and below), the following formula is to be used:

$R a t i o 1 = \frac{P r o p o r t i o n o f M P s a g e d 45 a n d b e l o w i n p a r l i a m e n t}{P r o p o r t i o n o f t h e n a t i o n a l p o p u l a t i o n a g e d 45 a n d b e l o w}$

(with the age of eligibility as a lower boundary)

where:

The numerator is the number of seats held by MPs aged 45 and below, divided by the total number of members in parliament
The denominator can be computed using national population figures as follows:

$\frac{[S i z e o f n a t i o n a l p o p u l a t i o n \leq 45] - [S i z e o f n a t i o n a l p o p u l a t i o n < a g e o f e l i g i b i l i t y]}{S i z e o f t h e n a t i o n a l p o p u l a t i o n}$

The resulting ratio can then be interpreted as follows:

0 means no representation at all of ‘youth’ (45 years and below) in parliament
1 means perfectly proportional representation of ‘youth’ (45 years and below) in parliament
<1 means under-representation of ‘youth’ (45 years and below) in parliament
>1 means over-representation of ‘youth’ (45 years and below) in parliament

Example:

Say in country A, 30% of the national population is aged 45 or younger (but above the age of eligibility), but only 25% of MPs fall in this age category:

$R a t i o 1 = \frac{P r o p o r t i o n o f M P s a g e d 45 a n d b e l o w i n p a r l i a m e n t}{P r o p o r t i o n o f t h e n a t i o n a l p o p u l a t i o n a g e d 45 a n d b e l o w}$

(with the age of eligibility as a lower boundary)

Ratio = 0.25 / 0.3 = 0.83

(<1 since MPs aged 45 or younger are under-represented amongst MPs compared to the proportion of this age group in the national population. The ratio is close to 1 as the share of ‘young’ MPs is not too far from the corresponding share of the national population falling in this age group.)

While a simple proportion of ‘young’ MPs in parliament is not internationally comparable, a ratio computed using the above formula is. For instance, 48% of ‘young’ MPs (45 years old or younger) may be an overrepresentation of youth in country A where only 30% of the national population above eligibility age falls in this age bracket (Ratio = 48/30 = 1.6), but in country B where 70% of the national population is 45 years old or younger, the same 48% would be interpreted as under-representation (Ratio = 48/70 = 0.69). In this example, the figure of 48% is not internationally comparable in relation to the national population (it means over-representation in one country and under-representation in another), but the ratios 1.6 and 0.69 are internationally comparable. They help us understand whether 48% of MPs aged 45 years old or less is close to, or far from, proportional representation of this age group in the national population.

To calculate the ratio for female MPs, the following formula is to be used:

$R a t i o 2 = \frac{P r o p o r t i o n o f w o m e n i n p a r l i a m e n t}{P r o p o r t i o n o f w o m e n i n t h e n a t i o n a l p o p u l a t i o n}$

(with the age of eligibility as a lower boundary)

where:

The numerator is the number of seats held by female MPs, divided by the total number of members in parliament
The denominator can be computed using national population figures as follows:

$\frac{[S i z e o f f e m a l e n a t i o n a l p o p u l a t i o n \geq a g e o f e l i g i b i l i t y]}{[S i z e o f t h e n a t i o n a l p o p u l a t i o n \geq a g e o f e l i g i b i l i t y]}$

Note: This denominator can be set at 50 in most countries, as women generally represent around 50% of the national population in any given age bracket.

The resulting ratio can be:

0, when there is no representation of women at all in parliament
<1, when the proportion of women in parliament is lower than that in the national population
=1, when the proportion of women in parliament equals that in the national population
>1, when the proportion of women in parliament is higher than that in the national population

Example:

Say in the same country A, 10% of seats are held by women MPs and women represent 50% of the national population in the given age bracket):

$R a t i o 2 = \frac{P r o p o r t i o n o f w o m e n i n p a r l i a m e n t}{P r o p o r t i o n o f w o m e n i n t h e n a t i o n a l p o p u l a t i o n}$

(with the age of eligibility as a lower boundary)

Ratio = 0.10 / 0.50 = 0.2

(<1 since women are under-represented amongst MPs, but this time the ratio is much smaller as sex-based representation in parliament is far from parity.)

Speakers: No computation, as most parliaments will only have one Speaker per parliament in unicameral parliaments or one Speaker per chamber in bicameral parliaments^{^[17]}. Personal characteristics of the individual(s) holding the position of Speaker are recorded (i.e. age group and sex).
Chairs of permanent committees on Foreign Affairs, Defence, Finance, Human Rights and Gender Equality: No computation, as data is collected only on five committee Chairs. Personal characteristics of the five individuals chairing these three committees are recorded (i.e. age group and sex).

Computation in bicameral legislatures

In bicameral parliaments, data will be collected and computed separately for the same set of positions in each chamber.

Regional/global aggregates:

Regional and global aggregates can be calculated on the basis of the data compiled for the indicator.

Members: Regional and global aggregates should be calculated using raw data, not the ratio
Speakers: Regional and global aggregates can be calculated
Committee chairs: When calculating regional and global aggregates, attention must be paid to committees that cover more than one portfolio and/or that are joint committees of both chambers in a bicameral parliament.

Effect of the age of eligibility for upper chambers on the age ratio

While in many bicameral legislatures, the age of eligibility for the upper chamber is significantly higher than that for the lower chamber, some have adopted an equal or similar age requirement for both chambers.However, regardless of the minimum age of eligibility set for upper chambers, members of these chambers throughout the world are older on average than members of lower chambers (see New Parline). As such, those upper chambers that have a low eligibility age are likely to have a lower ratio for ‘young’ MPs than upper chambers that have a higher eligibility age. In other words, in upper chambers where the eligibility age is lower, the share of MPs who are 45 or younger is likely to be considerably less than the corresponding proportion of the national population that falls between the eligibility age and 45 years old.

¹⁷

In very rare cases, there are two or more speakers per parliament / chamber. For the sake of clarity and consistency of the analysis, this metadata does not introduce computation for such cases. ↑

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Rætta uppseting: 16.7.1