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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