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More women then ever before are in work, but a persistent gap in status, job security, wages and education between women and men is contributing to the "feminization of working poverty", according to a new report by the International Labour Office to mark International Women's Day
Although more women than ever before are employed or looking for work, the past decade has seen only limited progress towards gender equality in wages and status, says the International Labour Organisation in a report published to coincide with International Women's Day on March 8.
Nearly half the world's 1.2 billion working women are in wage and salaried employment, compared with 43% a decade ago, states 'Global Employment Trends for Women Brief - 2007' Moving to wage and salaried employment is a major step toward freedom and self-determination for many women. However, in all regions, women are more likely than men to be unpaid contributing members of the family or working on their own account for poor wages.
In 2006, the ILO estimated that 1.2 billion of the 2.9 billion workers in the world were women. However, the ILO said more women than ever before are unemployed (81.8 million), stuck in low productivity jobs in agriculture and services or receiving less money for doing the same jobs as men.
"Despite some progress, far too many women are still stuck in the lowest-paying jobs, often in the informal economy with insufficient legal protection, little or no social protection, and a high degree of insecurity," says Juan Somavia, ILO director-general.
The report points out that women's share of global employment, at 40%, is little changed from 10 years ago, while the labour force participation rate -- the proportion of women working or seeking work -- is no longer rising. Only half of working-age women over 15 are employed, against seven in 10 men.
Though one positive reason for the stagnant labour force participation rate is an increase in the proportion of girls and young women in education, it may also reflect a dearth of job opportunities and other barriers to women working, especially in poorer nations, the report argues.
In the Middle East and North Africa, only two in 10 working-age women are employed, compared with seven in 10 men; in South Asia the ratio is little better.
The report adds that women must be given the chance to work themselves and their families out of poverty through creation of decent employment opportunities that help them secure productive and remunerative work in conditions of freedom, security and human dignity. Otherwise, the process of feminisation of poverty will continue and be passed on to the next generation. Promoting decent work as a fundamental instrument in the global quest for gender equality will go a long way in raising incomes and opportunities for women and lifting families out of poverty," Somavia says.
Meanwhile, women made up a record 17% of the world's parliamentarians in 2006, up from 11% in 1995, according to the Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union that groups 148 national parliaments.
Nordic countries continue to elect the highest number of women, with an average of 41%, followed by Costa Rica with 39%, the Netherlands 33%, and Austria 32%.
In South Asia, India and Bhutan rank 108th and 131st among 189 countries as far as percentage of women lawmakers in the lower house of parliament in 2006 is concerned, says the report. Pakistan is at 48th position and Nepal shares 63rd position. China occupies 49th position and Bangladesh is in 72nd spot.
The United States holds 67th position and Britain shares the 52nd spot with the Dominican Republic.
By last December, 19 parliaments had reached the target of 30% women established by the United Nations conference on women held in Beijing in 1995.
Worst performers were the Pacific Island states, where less than 3% of parliamentarians are women.
Source: The Financial Times, March 8, 2007
www.ilo.org, March 8, 2007
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