Fiona MacPhail ADB Consultant and University of Northern British Columbia, Professor of Economics ILO and ADB Regional

Workshop Promoting gender equality in the labor market for more inclusive growth 17-18 June 2013, Manila
ADB Research and Development Technical Assistance: Promoting gender equality in the labor market for more inclusive growth
The views expressed in this paper are the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), or its Board of Governors, or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. The countries listed in this paper do not imply any view on ADB's part as to sovereignty or independent status or necessarily conform to ADB's terminology.

1. An argument for focusing on gender equality in the labor market and productive and decent work 2. Dimensions of gender inequalities (gaps) in the labor market and whether these have declined 3. Where are the jobs for women? 4. Implications for strategies to promote gender equality in the labor market

1. Why focus on gender equality in the labor market and productive and decent work?

Inclusive growth refers to:

raising the pace of growth and enlarging the size of the economy, while levelling the playing field for investment and increasing productive employment opportunities, as well as ensuring fair access to them. It allows every section of the society to participate in and contribute to the growth process equally, irrespective of their circumstances. (ADB 2011: 4)

Importance of jobs recognized in national development plans and international development agencies
Countries with higher employment elasticities have had better records on reducing poverty
Cambodia appears to have a better record than the Philippines (Draft Report, Tables 1 and 2)

Time related Underemployment, 2008 Youth unemployment

Cambodia Women Men 41.0 31.9

Philippines Women Men 9.2 11.0

3.3 (2008)

3.5 (2008)

18.2 (2012)

14.9 (2012)

% Population < $2/day, 2009

Sources: Draft Report, Tables 1 and 2.

50%

40%

Indicators of gender inequality Gender Inequality Index (UNDP), 2012 Womens/mens annual earnings (WEF), 2012 Womens share of wage employment in the nonagricultural sector (MDG3 Target)
Source: Draft Report, Tables 1 and 2.

Cambodia 0.473 71%

41.1% (2008)

Philippines 0.417 60%

41.8% (2011)

2. Gender inequalities (gaps) in the labor market: have the gender gaps declined?

Participation in the labor market Productive employment

Indicators: Labor force participation rate (quantity); Human Capital (school enrolments, literacy, fields of study) employment yielding sufficient returns to labour to permit the worker and her/his dependents a level of consumption above the poverty line. (ILO 2012: 3) Indicators: share of low wage work productive employment, rights at work, social protection, and social dialogue (ILO 2012) Indicator: share of vulnerable employment=own-account work + unpaid family workers/total employment
A proxy only, not a direct measure

Decent work

Data drawn primarily from ILO (2012) and Philippines, BLES, DOLE, Decent Work Statistics Database.

35

30

Gender LFPR Gap %

25

Womens LFPR 50.0% Mens LFPR 78.5%

20

15

2001 2012

10

Cambodia

Philippines

Source: compiled from ILO, KILM. Table 1a and Philippines, BLES, DOLE. Decent Work Statistics Database.

High fertility rates (both countries) Gender unpaid work time gap 3.5 hours/day (Cambodia)
Source: Draft Report, Table 1 and Section II B.

31% of (working age) women report not in LF due to household/family duties (Philippines)

Formal education and literacy Cambodia

Training

Decrease gender gap in primary school enrolments Gender gap in basic literacy, 88% of men, 73% of women

Women in traditional areas and shorter courses (Cambodia) Women under-represented in law, IT, engineering, agriculture, architecture (Philippines)

Source: Draft Report, Section II B and Table 4.

Share of low wage work (wage < 2/3 median wage rate) Cambodia Philippines
Women Men Women Men

2004
2009 2011

35.1
35.1 --

29.9
28.6 --

17.6
18.6 17.7

13.1
12.5 11.8

Source: Draft report, Table 3.

Cambodia (monthly salary/wages)

Philippines (daily wage)

Between 2004 and 2009: increase in the gender wage gap from 11.6% to 27.4%

Gender wage gap (unadjusted for human capital), slight advantage to women Gender wage gap (adjusted for human capital differences), 23 to 30% Sticky floor - High gender wage gap in some occupations (service and sales workers, trades and related workers, laborers) Decrease in real wages

Source: ILO. 2012. Table 8.3; Philippines, BLES, DOLE, Decent Work Statistics Database; Draft Report, Section II B.

10

Gender Vulnerable Employment Gap %

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

Women 73% Men 64%

Women 46% Men 39%

2000 2004 2011

1
0

Cambodia

Philippines

Source: Draft report, Table 3; Note: Cambodia 15-64 years of age; Philippines 15 + years.

3. Where are the jobs for women?

Cambodia Sector 1998 2008 Increased # of jobs 1998-2008 600,994 229,069 229,425

Agriculture, 82.7% 75.0% fishing 2,020,516 2,621,510 Industry 3.5% 85,512 9.0% 314,581

Service
Source: ILO. 2012.

13.5% 329,830

16.0% 559,255

Philippines
Sector 2001 2011 Increased # of jobs 2001-11 408,000 42,000 2,936,000 3,386,000

Agriculture, fishing Industry

Service Total

24.6% 2,765,000 12.6% 1,413,000 62.8% 7,054,000 11,232,000

21.7% 3,173,000 10.0% 1,455,000 68.3% 9,990,000 14,619,000

Source: Philippines, BLES, DOLE. Decent Work Statistics Database.

Export-oriented development strategies in both countries (garments in Cambodia, electronics, automobiles, garments in the Philippines) Impacts on jobs and productive employment for women differ between the two countries
Cambodia: increased share of employment in manufacturing Philippines: decreased share of employment in manufacturing (but increased share of employment in export-oriented services)

Increased jobs: 160,000 to 373,000 workers (20002012) 90% women 8% of total employment for women Plus workers in the subcontracting (non-registered factories)

Employment for young women, low levels of formal education Offers opportunities for decent work although
Minimum wage has not kept up with median wage (i.e. mens wages have increased more quickly) Increased gender wage gap

Jobs

Decent work?

Source: Dasgupta et al (2011), ILO (2012, 2013); Draft Report, Box 1.

Increased share of employment in the service sector in both countries Variation with the service sector (e.g. personal, retail service vs. financial services) Substantial growth of employment in the categories:
Wholesale and Retail Trade and Services and Accommodation and Food, in both countries Business Process Outsourcing (BPOs) sector in the Philippines

Source: NSO (2010); Amante (2010); Keitel et al (2009); Domingo Cabarrubias (2011); Draft Report, Box 2.

Increased jobs: 101,00 to 638,000 (2004-2011) Now 1.7% of total employment About 55% women (2008) Higher female shares in transcription, data processing, call centers

Employment for welleducated women

80% college graduates

High wage than average wage (e.g. wages in occupation category Clerks 403 Pesos/day, compared to average of 324 Pesos/day) But

Occupational segregation by sex Gender wage gap 13% Health and safety issues

BPO Jobs

Decent work?

Source: NSO (2010); Amante (2010); Keitel et al (2009); Domingo Cabarrubias (2011); Draft Report, Box 2.

Key sector for womens businesses

Among women registering new business 51% in retail, 41% in services

10% of all womens employment in Cambodia and 30% in the Philippines 50% of the increase in service sector employment in Cambodia (1998-2008) and 40% in the Philippines (2001-2011)

Low productivity and earnings Little access to social security Face increase competition from large retailers
Source: Draft Report, Section II B; ILO (2010); ILO, KILM, Table 4c; BLES, DOLE. 2012 Gender Statistics on Labor and Employment.

1% of total womens employment in Cambodia and 4% in the Philippines But large share of the growth in employment in the service sector (12% and 8%) But still Low wage work
78% of womens average wage (Philippines)

In general poor working conditions

11% of total womens employment Low wages <40% of average womens wage (daily wage) 8.9hours per day, longer days for live-in workers No contract Non-household duties No social security, or benefits Non-payment of wages Verbal, physical, sexual abuse

Accommodation and Food (Cambodia and the Philippines)

Households with paid workers (Philippines)

Sources: ILO (2010); BLES, DOLE, Decent Work Statistics Database; Baum (2013); Sayres (2007);

4. Implications for strategies to promote gender equality in the labor market

Inclusive growth requires gender equality in the labor market and productive and decent work Decline in gender LFPR gap (Philippines) and in human capital gap (Cambodia) but no decline in gender gap in productive and decent work Agriculture still an important sector of employment Industry provides better opportunity for productive and decent work due to higher labor productivity
Increased share of employment in Cambodia; decline in the Philippines

Services provides a mix of opportunities

BPOs higher waged versus WRTS, Hotel and Food, Private households with employed persons

Reorient macroeconomic strategies toward employment Reduce constraints to womens participation

E.g Reduce unpaid domestic and care labor; reduce segregation in training

Redistribute unpaid and paid work between men and women Rebalance the labor market for gender equality

E.g. remove barriers to employment in non-traditional areas; improve work conditions across sectors, with focus on

agriculture, WRTS, Hotels and Food, Households with employees (Philippines); extend social protection strategy to include nonwage workers )