Twentieth-century expansion of women's rights

The twentieth century saw unprecedented expansion of women's legal and political rights worldwide.

• Suffrage: women won the right to vote in most countries between roughly 1900 and 1960. New Zealand led in 1893; Saudi Arabia followed only in 2015.
• Education: female literacy and school attendance increased dramatically in most countries. The global education gap between boys and girls has narrowed substantially though not been eliminated.
• Employment: women entered paid employment in increasing numbers, accelerated by WWI, WWII, and ongoing economic modernization.
• Reproductive rights: birth control became increasingly available; many countries legalized abortion in the late twentieth century.
• Legal equality: most countries reformed family law to give women more equal rights in marriage, divorce, inheritance, and property ownership.
• Political participation: women began to be elected and appointed to senior political offices, though always in fewer numbers than men.