The Hindu : National : More women in jobs than before: ILO report

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More women in jobs than before: ILO report

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: More women are working now than ever before, but they are also more likely than men to get low-productivity, low-paid and vulnerable jobs, with no social protection, basic rights nor any say at work, according to a new report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) released on Wednesday to mark the International Women’s Day.

The report “Global employment trends for women – March 2003” says that the number of employed women grew by almost 200 million over the last decade, to reach 1.2 billion in 2007 compared to 1.8 billion men. However, the number of unemployed women also grew from 70.2 to 81.6 million over the same period.

According to the report, improvements in the status of women in labour markets throughout the world have not substantially narrowed gender gaps in the workplace. The share of women in vulnerable employment, either unpaid contributing family workers or own-account workers, rather than wage and salaried workers, decreased from 56.1 to 51.7 per cent since 1997. However, the burden of vulnerability is still greater for women than men, especially in the world’s poorest regions.

The other key findings are that worldwide the female unemployment rate stood at 6.4 per cent compared to the male rate of 5.7 per cent. Less than 70 women are economically active for every 100 men globally. Remaining outside the labour force is often not a choice but an imposition. It is likely that women would opt for paid work outside the home.

At the global level, the female employment to population ratio, which indicates how much economies are able to take advantage of the productive potential of their working age population was 49.1 per cent in 2007 compared to male employment to population ratio of 74.3 per cent.

Over the past decade, the service sector has overtaken agriculture as the prime employer of women. In 2007, 35.1 per cent of employed women worked in agriculture and 46.3 per cent in services. In comparison, male sectoral shares were 34 per cent in agriculture and 40.4 per cent in services.

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