The e-Newsletter of the Gender Network

August 2012 | Vol. 6, No. 2

Promoting gender equality in employment and decent work for inclusive growth: experiences from Cambodia, Philippines, and Kazakhstan
by Fiona MacPhail Gender, employment and inclusive growth While low income countries have experienced increases income per capita, such growth has not been inclusive in all countries. That is, economic growth has occurred without reducing the incidence of income poverty or the number of poor population has actually increased. Many international development agencies and national planning agencies recognize that employment is a key pathway out of poverty and consequently, a critical mechanism for achieving inclusive growth. Expansion of employment and decent work for women, and poor people generally, would increase their earnings and income, and contribute to inclusive growth. Employment of women is necessary to ensure that over 50 percent of the population is included, and would further increase labor productivity and provide further incentives to invest in human capital of girls. Given the importance of gender equitable employment for inclusive growth, the ADB research and development technical assistance (RDTA) Promoting gender equality in the labor market for inclusive growth seeks to examine the gendered nature of labor markets in Cambodia, the Philippines, and Kazakhstan, as well as highlighting current good practices for promoting gender equality in the labor market. The preliminary findings from the RDTA were presented at the Multilateral Development Bank Gender and Employment Workshop, held in Istanbul, April 24-25, 2012. This note provides highlights from the presentation.1 Dimensions of gender inequality in the labor markets of Cambodia, the Philippines, and Kazakhstan The nature of womens employment varies across the three countries given their specific historical conditions and contemporary economic policy. In Kazakhstan, market reforms since 1991 contributed to economic growth but are also associated with a decline in womens labor force participation rates, compared to the planned Soviet economic system. The industrial and occupations in which women are employed in this resource-oriented economy are different from those in the Philippines, where women have found employment in electronics manufacturing and a growing business processing outsourcing service sector. The end of civil war in Cambodia left a primarily agrarian economy, but trade policy has contributed to the rise of the garment sector in which large numbers of women are employed. International migration also plays different roles, as considerable out-migration occurs from Cambodia and the Philippines, whereas, Kazakhstan has experienced inmigration.

The full presentation is available from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development website, at http://www.ebrd.com/downloads/research/sustain/4macphail.pdf.

Despite differences in womens employment, it remains the case, that labor market outcomes in all three countries are unfavorable to women. Women have lower labor force participation rates (LFPR), compared to men, in all three countries (see Figure 1); the largest gender LFPR gap occurs for the Philippines. While varying across countries and over time, social norms tend to assign domestic and care responsibilities to women. Women allocate many unpaid hours of work to provide domestic and care products and services for their families and this often constrains their ability to fully participate in the labor market, as well as resulting in women shouldering a greater total work burden (paid and unpaid) than men. In addition, the demand for womens labor is affected not only by aggregate demand conditions but also employers hiring decisions which may be affected by discriminatory social norms.
Figure 1: Labor force participation rates, Cambodia, Philippines, and Kazakhstan, Women and Men, 2010

Notes: Labor force participation rate (%), all three countries 15 years +, 2010 Source: compiled from ILO, Key Indicators of the Labour Market.

Gender inequality in labor market outcomes is reflected in types of work performed by women, as well as their wages. On average across the three countries, women earned 66 percent of men's earnings.2 Women are more likely, compared to men, to be working as unpaid contributing family members (see Figure 2), and thus do not benefit directly from wages and income. While there has been an increase in the percentage of women with wage employment in the non-agricultural sector (one the MDG-3 indicators of gender equality), women compared with men in each of the countries have less access to wage employment. Within the waged labor market, women tend to be restricted to a very narrow range of industrial sub-sectors and occupational categories. For example, in Kazakhstan, women are highly concentrated in the lower paid services sector such as trade and education, whereas as men are more likely to have access to the higher paid resources sub-sector. As entrepreneurs, women are disproportionately operating micro and small enterprises, and further, these microenterprises tend to be in the less productive and remunerative, wholesale and retail trade sector.

World Economic Forum. 2011. Global Gender Gap Report 2011. Table D3.

Figure 2: Unpaid family workers, Cambodia, Philippines, and Kazakhstan, Women and Men, 2008

Notes: Unpaid contributing family worker (%), Cambodia 7 years +, Philippines and Kazakhstan 15 years plus, 2008. Source: compiled from ILO, Key Indicators of the Labour Market.

There is some evidence that decent work conditions are deteriorating and that women are particularly vulnerable. For example, among women, there has been: an increase in the percentage of low wage workers (Philippines); increase in the gender wage gap (Cambodia); and increased employment vulnerability due to fluctuations in global demand for labor intensive products and services (Cambodia and the Philippines). Good practices to expand womens employment Examples of good practices to expand womens employment and decent work exist in all three countries. First, at the macroeconomic level, as part of national fiscal policy, Kazakhstan has undertaken some reinvestment in infrastructure and services to increase access to potable water and electricity; access to potable water may potentially reduce womens unpaid time burden. In Cambodia, the garment sector developed in the late 1990s partly because Cambodia was given an increased quota to the US market on the condition it followed key international labor standards; this link between trade policy and working conditions in the garment sector improved access to employment and decent work for women. The Philippines has a strong legal framework, the Magna Carta, and well-developed national machinery for gender mainstreaming to assist with gender-responsive planning. Second, policies to promote employment opportunities for women are being planned or implemented in each country. Cambodia plans to expand technical and vocational education and training which recognizes the benefits of including training for women in nontraditional areas; such training should enhance womens access to employment and assist in reducing occupational and industrial segregation. Legal provisions exist in Kazakhstan that offer some job security to women who take unpaid leave for child care reasons. Third, in terms of social protection, the Philippines has initiated a conditional cash transfer program, funded by among others, the Asian Development Bank, and a pilot project to expand social insurance to informal workers. Early evaluations indicate that the cash
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transfer program has increased school enrolment and access to health services for pregnant women3.The adult woman in the household is the targeted recipient of the cash transfer and although the impacts on womens well-being, measured by indicators such as intrahousehold decision making, self-esteem and labor force participation, have not yet been evaluated in the Philippines, positive links have been found for other countries. Finally, there are several examples of projects designed to support womens voice, rights and representation. In Cambodia, for example, the Urban Sector Group has engaged with street vendors and provided training and capacity building in advocacy and negotiating. The activities are argued to have increased their business skills, income and ability to deal with public authorities. Implications Good practices to enhance womens employment exist across the three countries, however, greater policy attention and resources are warranted to ensure growth includes women. Pilot programs need to be strengthened and coverage extended. In general, macroeconomic stability policies can be complemented with gender-responsive, employment-oriented policies to promote inclusive growth. Policies to increase human capital, particularly, in the vocational training areas, should facilitate womens access to training non-traditional areas. In many instances, complementary mechanisms to ensure that women can access employment after completing the training will be needed. Social protection initiatives which not only enhance human capital of the younger generation but facilitate womens networking, skills, and access to employment are important. Policies to support womens voice and agency will further enhance inclusivity.

*** Fiona MacPhail is an ADB consultant and Labor Market Economist, currently engaged under a regional technical assistance on Promoting Gender Equality in the Labor Market for more Inclusive Growth

The views expressed in this paper are the views of the author 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.

World Bank. 2011. Overview of the Philippines Conditional Cash Transfer Program: The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (Pantawid Pamilya). Philippines Social Protection Note, May 2011, No. 2.