Selim RaihanExecutive Director

South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM)

Prepared for ESCAP/UNDP/ARTNeT Workshop on

Trade and Gender Linkages

Bangkok, Thailand, 16 September 20101

� Wage Discrimination

� High Female Domestic Work

� Low Female Labour Market Participation

� Concentration in Export-Oriented Activities

� Entry into Labour Market and Leisure/Welfare Implications for unskilled females

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Country Female wage as a % of male wage

Country Female wage as a % of male wage

Mexico 86% (1995) Burkina Faso 70% in protected, 64% in unprotected

sector (1996) Salvador 41% (1978) Cameroon 75% in protected,

42% in unprotected sector (1996)

Bangkok formal 64% & informal 83%(1987)

Guinea and Mali 62%in protected, 88% in unprotected

sector (1996) South Korea 50% in

manufacturing (1995) Nepal 58% (1998-99)

Sri Lanka 88% in manufacturing (1995)

Zambia Low education 65%, High education 95%

(1995) Bangladesh: No education 50%, High education 70% (1993)

World average: 75 % for non-agricultural occupations, somewhat lower in manufacturing (1998)

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� Female involvement in unpaid work and paid Informal sector

� Leisure decreases with increased demand for income earning activities

Rural Urban

Male Female Male Female

Market Activities 35 17 36 12

Domestic Work 4 22 2 24

Personal Care 42 41 43 43

Leisure 9 20 19 21

Total 100 100 100 100

Bangladesh: Time allocation figures, 2005 (%)

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� Asia: Female participation in official labour force has increased in absolute terms, but varies around 12% of the total

� Asia and Latin America: Home workers in garments

� Africa: Female participation in both agricultural and non-agricultural activities is higher than male

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Urban Rural Bangladesh

Major Activity Male Female All Male Female All Male Female All

Agriculture, Forestry 20.9 42.4 25.9 54.9 63.9 56.9 46.8 58.5 49.4

Fishing 1.3 0.1 1 3.5 0.2 2.8 3 0.2 2.4

Mining and Quarrying 0.1 0 0.1 0.3 0 0.2 0.2 0 0.2

Manufacturing 11.3 23 14 6.5 15.4 8.4 7.6 17.3 9.8

Electricity, Water and Gas 0.5 0.3 0.5 0.2 0 0.1 0.3 0.1 0.2

Construction 6.4 1.2 5.2 3.5 0.9 2.9 4.2 1 3.5

Trade Services 26.1 3.4 20.8 14.3 1.7 11.5 17.1 2.2 13.8

Hotel 2.5 0.6 2 1.2 0.2 1 1.5 0.3 1.3

Transport and Storage 12 0.6 9.3 7.6 0.1 6 8.7 0.3 6.8

Finance, Business, Services 1.7 0.6 1.4 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.6 0.2 0.5

Real Estate 1.2 0.2 1 0.3 0 0.3 0.5 0.1 0.4

Public Admin 5.8 2 4.9 1.6 0.5 1.4 2.6 0.9 2.2

Education 3.4 6.3 4 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.5 3.2 2.7

Health & Social Workers 1.8 2.6 2 0.8 1.1 0.9 1 1.5 1.1

Community, Personal Services 5 16.6 7.7 2.8 13.6 5.1 3.3 14.4 5.8

All Sector 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 1006

� In the Asian context, the fast-growing East Asian countries’ labour markets experienced declining female participation in the manufacturing and services sector with increased globalisation (Joekes 1995, World Bank 1993)

� In some other Asian countries like Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and China, the situation was the reverse (Mitter and Rowbotham 1995, Pearson and Mitter 1993).

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� An increase in female labour force participation does not necessarily reflect female welfare increase; the maintenance of a ‘care economy’ has absolute female labour intensity without a matched increase in male participation in domestic work to address the decline in female labour hours devoted to such work.

� As a result, time for personal care and leisure declines with increased female labour force participation, and this has a negative impact on their welfare.

� Men and women may be affected differently by a state’s macroeconomic policies, depending on the sectors in which they work.

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