Gender Dimensions and Labor Market: Assessing Results for Asia and the Pacific

Sri Wening Handayani, ADB

What are the trends in womens employment?

Globalization has coincided with an increase in female labor force participation rates. The narrowing of the gender gap in economic participation rates has not produced gender equality in pay and status. Increasing female labor force participation has coincided with an increase in informal and unprotected forms of work. The wages and conditions of work remains far from satisfactory for women who continue to be concentrated in seasonal and temporary jobs.

What is Social Protection?

Social protection is concerned with preventing, managing and overcoming situations that adversely affect people's well-being or living standards. It encompasses policies that protect people from

i. ii. iii.

adverse consequences of illness, disability, maternity and old age; market risks such as unemployment and price volatilities; and economic crisis and natural disasters. (UNRISD, 2010)

When applied to developing countries where poverty is chronic, social protection should also include prevention, promotion and 4

Why Social Protection is Important

Social protection policies and programs aim to address workers' living standards and economic security. Investment in social protection help to reduce poverty and vulnerability. There is need to improve design and implementation of social protection policies and programs. There is a need to enforce labor market regulations.
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What are the definition and component of Social Protection Programs?

The Definition

ADB defines social protection as a set of policies and programs designed to reduce poverty and vulnerability by promoting efficient labor markets, diminishing peoples exposure to risks, and enhancing their capacity to protect themselves against hazards and interruption/loss of income.

The Components of Social Protection Programs

Social insurance uses contributory schemes Social assistance unrequited transfers to groups, such as the poor, who cannot qualify for insurance or would receive inadequate benefits from such a source Labor market programs help people to secure employment

What are Labor Market Programs?

Labor market improvements to enhance social protection include the following:

Active labor market programs such as direct employment generation, employment services, and skills development programs. Passive labor market policies include unemployment insurance, income support, and appropriate legislative framework that strike a balance between economic efficiency and labor protection.
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Gender Dimensions of Social Protection Index

Most DMCs have SP programs and policies, but accessible and affordable SP is still an important policy imperative. Important gender differences in life courses due to life expectancy, participation in labor market, womens domestic and informal care responsibilities and patterns of intergenerational living arrangements that affect the provision of SP support. SP programs are gender neutral; mostly focused on addressing economic risks and vulnerability such as income consumption and macro shocks. Women are more likely to be disadvantaged in terms of work opportunities and are more likely to be excluded from SP programs. Global changes in the labor market, macroeconomic and demographic transition are resulting in disproportionately negative impacts on women, particularly those outside the 8 formal sector.

What is Gender Dimensions of Labor Market in this Study?

Gender dimensions of labor market focuses on gender aspects of securing employment. The major components are skill development and training programs and special work programs, such as cash- or food-for-work programs. This study categorizes passive labor market programs, such as unemployment insurance or severance payments, as forms of social insurance.

Methods and Coverage

This study is part of larger data collection for preparation of the Social Protection Index (SPI) and draws on 2009 data on social protection programs for 35 countries in Asia and the Pacific. The SPI Project covers 35 countries in Asia and the Pacific region Data was collected for 2008,2009, and 2010 Data was disaggregated by sex

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The Results SPI by Gender and Programs

Social Protection Index by Gender and Program, 2009
0.070 0.064 0.060

0.050 Social Protection Index

0.046

0.045

0.040

0.030

0.030

0.020 0.015

0.017

0.010 0.001 0.000 0.002

Overall

Social insurance
SPIwomen SPI men

Social assistance

Labor market programs

Source: ADB staff estimates based on SPI country reports

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SPI women and GDP per capita, 2009

0.250
R = 0.2792

0.200

JPN

0.150
SPI women

UZB

0.100
MON TIM VIE KGZ PHI NEP AFG BAN SOL CAM IND LAO VAN INO BHU RMI SRI GEO ARM MLD SAM FIJ PAK NAU THA PRC AZE MAL PAL

KOR SIN

0.050

0.000 2.5

TAJ

PNG

3.5

4.5

GDP per capita, 2009 (log)

AFG = Afghanistan, ARM = Armenia, AZE = Azerbaijan, BAN = Bangladesh, BHU = Bhutan, CAM = Cambodia, FIJ = Fiji, GEO = Georgia, IND = India, INO = Indonesia, JPN = Japan, KOR = Republic of Korea, KGZ = Kyrgyz Republic, LAO = Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, MAL = Malaysia, MLD = Maldives, MON = Mongolia, NAU = Nauru, NEP = Nepal, PAK = Pakistan, PAL = Palau, PNG = Papua New Guinea, PHI = Philippines, PRC = Peoples Republic of China, RMI = Republic of Marshall Islands, SAM = Samoa, SIN = Singapore, SOL = Solomon Islands, SRI = Sri Lanka, TAJ = Tajikistan, THA = Thailand, TIM = Timor-Leste, UZB = Uzbekistan, VIE = Viet Nam. Source: ADB staff estimates based on SPI country reports. 12

Components of Social Protection

Table 1: Components of Social Protection
Expenditures (%) 59 65 13 22 100 36 Beneficiaries (%) 37 45 35 20 100 58 Social Insurance (share of social protection) Individual SI Programs (share of total SI) Pensions Health Insurance Other SI Total SI Social Assistance (share of social protection) Individual SA Programs (share of total SA) Social Transfers Child Welfare Disaster Relief Assistance to the elderly Health Assistance Disability Programs Total SA Labor Market Programs (share of social protection) Individual LMP Programs (share of total LMP) Skills Development and Training Food/Cash for Work Programs Total LMP
LMP = labor market program; S = social insurance; SA = social assistance Source: ADB staff estimates based on SPI country reports.

32 34 14 12 5 3 100 5
46 54 100

34 31 15 8 9 2 100 6
48 52 100

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Labor Market Programs

Few labor market programs play a major role in social protection in Asia and the Pacific. Taken together, these two program types account for only 6% of social protection spending and 7% of beneficiaries. The traditional passive forms of labor market programs, such as unemployment benefits or severance payments, are insignificant in Asia and the Pacific. Passive labor market programs are virtually nonexistent, or ineffective, in most middle-income and low-income countries. Cash- or food-for-work programs account for 54% of all expenditures on active labor market programs and 52% of all beneficiaries Skill development and training account for the remaining 46% of expenditures and 48% of beneficiaries. In low-income countries employment guarantee schemes designed to construct or rebuild basic infrastructure are promising interventions.
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Gender Dimensions of Labor Market Programs

Women in most countries in Asia and the Pacific are disadvantaged on social protection. Women are less likely than men to work in the formal economy, and so are less likely to have direct access to pension programs. Women are also less likely to have access to most forms of health insurance that are based on formal employment. Labor market programs tend to be quite small in most countries in Asia and the Pacific, they could have only a negligible impact on promoting gender equityeven if they favored women.

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Conclusions and Recommendations Gender inequality is often tied to structural conditions, such

as the lack of access of women to formal well-paid employment. Policymakers in Asia and the Pacific are most likely to make substantial inroads in reducing such inequality when they begin to universalize social insurance benefits, such as for health care and pensions. Providing women with greater access to employment guarantee schemes or skill development and training would address gender inequality in labor market. Expanding the economic opportunities of women, and their access to forms of SP tied to employment status is necessary in addressing gender inequality. Broaden the access of women to social assistance such as directing more social assistance benefits to women should be considered. Increasing the expenditures of universal social assistance 16 programs could have a more significant overall impact on

For more information, please contact:

Sri Wening Handayani, ADB
<swhandayani@adb.org> Web site: www.adb.org

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