Women's Work in Asia and the Pacific by Sukti Dasgupta
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Decent Work for All ASIAN DECENT WORK DECADE 2006-2015 Sukti Dasgupta Senior Economist | ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific Women’s work in Asia and the Pacific
Transcript of Women's Work in Asia and the Pacific by Sukti Dasgupta
Decent Work for All ASIAN DECENT WORK DECADE 2006-2015
Sukti Dasgupta Senior Economist | ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
Women’s work in Asia and
the Pacific
Today’s presentation
1. Women’s work
• Labour force participation
• Unemployment
• Structural change
2. Quality of work
• Status in employment
• Skills
• Wages
3. Take aways
WOMEN’S WORK
Decent Work for All ASIAN DECENT WORK DECADE 2006-2015
Women in the labour force
Since the 1990s
• FLFP trends in Asia contrary
to rest of developing world
• Similar trends in gender
gaps…
– increased in South and East Asia
– decreased in South-East Asia and
the Pacific
– significantly declined in other
developing regions
FLFPR and gender gap (% and
percentage points), developing
regions, 1991 and 2014
Source: ILO regional estimates from the TRENDS Model, October 2014.
17.5
36.0
52.3
41.6
59.1
71.0
60.5
21.7
30.6
50.3 53.7
59.2
63.3 65.2
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
Middle
east and
North
Africa
South Asia World Latin
america
and the
Caribbean
South East
Asia and
the Pacific
East Asia Sub
Saharan
Africa
LFPR LFPR Gender gap Gender gap
Mixed situation at national level
LFPR by sex and gender gap (%), latest available year
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
90.0
100.0
Male Female Gap
Source: ILO estimates based on national sources.
Changes through life-cycle
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
15-1920-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-64
Malaysia
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
15-1920-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-59 60 +
Sri Lanka
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
15-19 20-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65 +
Japan
Source: ILO estimates based on national sources.
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
90.0
100.0
Viet Nam
FLFP and development
Relationship between FLFPR and
log GDPpc, Asia and the Pacific
Note: Data for 169 countries. Source: Verick, S.: Female labor force participation in developing countries (IZA World of Labour, 2014:87); Figure 3.
20
40
60
80
6 7 8 9 10 11lngdp_pc
flfpr Fitted values
Relationship between FLFPR and
log GDPpc, world
Note: Data for 32 Asian countries. Source: ILO, Key Indicators of the Labour Market, 2015; World Bank, World Development Indicators, .
Gendered structural change
Industrial composition of women’s
employment (%), 1991 and 2014 • Sizeable increase in the
share of working women
engaged in services
• Smaller increase in
industry’s share of female
employment
• Femininization of agriculture 0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
90.0
100.0
1991 2014e 1991 2014e 1991 2014e
East Asia South East Asia and the
Pacific
South Asia
Agriculture Industry Services % women in agriculture
Source: ILO regional estimates from the TRENDS Model, October 2014.
Sectoral employment
Women’s employment by sector,
2014
0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 120,000
East Asia
SE Asia & Pacific
South Asia
• Top 3 sectors account for
over 70 per cent of
women’s employment in all
subregions.
• Choice often restricted by
social norms
• Agriculture still the main
employer in all subregions
Source: ILO regional estimates from the TRENDS Model, October 2014.
Trends in unemployment
East Asia
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
2013
Men Women
Source: ILO regional estimates from the TRENDS Model, October 2014.
South-East Asia and
the Pacific
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
2013
Men Women
South Asia
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
2013
Men Women
QUALITY OF WORK
Decent Work for All ASIAN DECENT WORK DECADE 2006-2015
Job quality remains a concern
• Women increasingly in
wage work, but still less
than men
• Women overrepresented in
care work and other
contributing family work
• New ICLS definition of
employment has gender
implications
Women’s employment by status,
2014
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
90.0
100.0
Men Women Men Women Men Women
East Asia South East Asia and the
Pacific
South Asia
Wage and salary workers Employers
Own-account workers Contributing family workers
Vulnerable workers
Source: ILO regional estimates from the TRENDS Model, October 2014.
Job quality remains a concern
(cont’d)
Example:
• Indonesia, August 2014
– 34.1% of employment in agriculture
– Similar shares within gender: 32.9% of W and 34.8% of M
– 57.5% of women in agriculture in unpaid work vs. 11.3% of
men.
High agricultural employment
Many women in agriculture
Many women in unpaid and informal work
Source: ILO estimates based on national sources.
Employment and skills
East Asia
41.0
42.0
43.0
44.0
45.0
46.0
47.0
48.0
49.0
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
Low skills Medium
skills
High skills Low skills Medium
skills
High skills
1991 2014e
Men (000s), left axis Women (000s), left axis
Women's share (%), right axis
• Parity in access to primary and
secondary across continent
• Occupational outcomes vary
with education more for men
than women
• Women’s employment in high-
skill occupations rising faster
than men’s
Source: ILO regional estimates from the TRENDS Model, October 2014.
Employment and skills (cont’d) South-East Asia and
Pacific South Asia
41.0
42.0
43.0
44.0
45.0
46.0
47.0
0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
Low skills Medium
skills
High skills Low skills Medium
skills
High skills
1991 2014e
Men (000s), left axis Women (000s), left axis
Women's share (%), right axis
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
350,000
400,000
Low skills Medium
skills
High skills Low skills Medium
skills
High skills
1991 2014e
Men (000s), left axis Women (000s), left axis
Women's share (%), right axis
Source: ILO regional estimates from the TRENDS Model, October 2014.
Wage gaps persist
Gender wage gaps in Asia and the
Pacific, latest available year • Disparities most
pronounced in South Asia
but also marked in East Asia
• Range from -40.5 points in
Nepal to +6.1 points in the
Philippines
• Wages only indicative
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0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Average wage of men (Index = 100)
Average wage of women, relative to men's wages
Source: ILO Global wage Database 2014/15, based on national statistics.
Wage gaps persist (cont’d)
• Mixed trends across
countries
• Women’s average nominal
wages growing faster than
men’s
• Wage gaps decreasing in
most countries, but not by
much
Trend in average wages, selected
countries
-400.0
-300.0
-200.0
-100.0
0.0
100.0
200.0
300.0
400.0
500.0
Men Women Gap
Source: ILO Global wage Database 2014/15, based on national statistics.
Take aways
• Economic development and women’s engagement in the labour market do
not automatically go hand-in-hand, there is a need for policy intervention.
• Policies must account for prevailing social norm.
• General recommendations include:
– Social protection to reduce women’s vulnerabilities
– Investment in education and training
– Policies promoting women’s access to employment across sectors and
occupations
– Promoting shared house work and care responsibilities
– Guaranteeing equal rights through legislation and increasing awareness
Thank you
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